Latest news with #FreeSyrianArmy
Egypt Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
CNN — ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
ISIS claims first attacks against forces loyal to new government in Syria
ISIS has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces – the first since the transitional government under former jihadist Ahmed al-Sharaa took office. The terror group, also known as Islamic State, said it had killed and injured seven members of 'the apostate Syrian regime' with an explosive device that was detonated on a road in southern Syria. It said the attack took place in the remote desert area of Talul al Safa in the southern Syrian province of Suwayda. A military source in the Suwayda region told CNN that a reconnaissance unit from the Free Syrian Army was ambushed Wednesday while tracking ISIS movements in the area. One fighter had been killed and three injured. Units of the Free Syrian Army are supported by the US military in what is called the al Tanf Deconfliction Zone close to the borders with Jordan and Egypt, where the US has a small outpost. The source added that the Talul al Safa area is 'extremely rugged and dangerous area, as ISIS had been exploiting its terrain for a long time.' ISIS lost almost all the territory it controlled in Syria by the end of 2017 but has maintained a foothold in Syria's vast central desert. ISIS claimed another attack in the same area several days ago. CNN has reached out to the government in Damascus for comment. Last week, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security forces operating in an area not far from where the attacks took place had seized 'a number of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), as well as weapons' at locations belonging to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS. The Washington DC-based Institute for the Study of War says the group has likely maintained cells in southern Syria despite not carrying out any attacks there for at least two years. The US and other Western governments have urged the new Syrian government to prevent a resurgence of ISIS and other terror groups on Syrian soil. But the government has struggled to extend its authority to Suwayda, where there have been clashes between Druze and Sunni groups.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Islamic State group claims first attack on Syrian government forces since Assad's fall
BEIRUT — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for two attacks in southern Syria, including one on government forces that an opposition war monitor described as the first on the Syrian army to be carried out by the extremists since the fall of Bashar Assad. IS said in a statement on Thursday that in one attack, a bomb targeting a 'vehicle of the apostate regime' detonated, leaving seven soldiers dead or wounded. It said the attack occurred 'last Thursday,' or May 22, in the al-Safa area in the desert of the southern province of Sweida. In a separate statement, the group said another bomb attack occurred this week in a nearby area, targeting members of the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army. It claimed that it killed one fighter and wounded three. There was no comment from the government on the claims. A spokesperson for the Free Syrian Army didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by the Associated Press. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack on government forces killed one civilian and wounded three soldiers, describing it as the first such attack to be claimed by IS against Syrian forces since the 54-year rule by the Assad family ended in December. IS, which once controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, is opposed to the new authority in Damascus led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was once the head of al Qaeda's branch in Syria and fought battles against IS. Over the past several months, IS has claimed responsibility for attacks against the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast. IS was defeated in Syria in March 2019 when SDF fighters captured the last sliver of land that the extremists controlled. Since then, its sleeper cells have carried out deadly attacks, mainly in eastern and northeast Syria. In January, state media reported that intelligence officials in Syria's post-Assad government thwarted a plan by IS to set off a bomb at a Shiite Muslim shrine south of Damascus. Al-Sharaa met with President Trump in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, when the American leader said that Washington would work on lifting crippling economic sanctions imposed on Damascus since the days of Assad. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement after the meeting that Trump urged al-Sharaa to diplomatically recognize Israel, 'tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria' and help the U.S. stop any resurgence of the Islamic State group. Mroue writes for the Associated Press.
