Beirut, Lebanon – The Islamic State (IS) group on Thursday claimed its first attack on Syria’s new government forces since the fall of longtime Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, two war monitors said.
The man killed was accompanying the Syrian government forces in the desert area, according to SOHR.
Once in control of large swathes of Syria and Iraq, IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019 largely due to the efforts of Kurdish-led forces supported by an international coalition. It has maintained a presence mainly in the country’s vast desert.
Reported attacks by the group in areas controlled by the Islamist-led government, which took power after Assad’s ouster in December, have been scarce.
However, they have continuously carried out attacks on Kurdish-led forces in the northeast.
This week, Syrian authorities said they arrested members of an Islamic State cell near Damascus, accusing them of preparing attacks.
Another government operation in the northern city of Aleppo this month saw the death of one security forces officer and three IS members.
During a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh this month, US President Donald Trump called on him to “help the United States to prevent to resurgence of IS”, according to the White House.
