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ISIS has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Syria over the past few days, signaling a resurgence of its influence in the country.
On June 16, the terrorist group confirmed that it was behind a suicide attack that claimed the lives of two Syria security personnel and wounded several others in the northern governorate of Raaqqa a day earlier.
At the time of the attack, Noureddine al-Baba, spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry, said in a statement to the state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV that the attack, carried out by at least two militants, targeted a camp linked to the ministry in the city of Raqqa.
The news channel reported, citing a security official, that one of the attackers was neutralized by security forces before carrying out the assault. The second attacker detonated an explosive device.
In a statement published via its Amaq news agency, ISIS said that the suicide attack was carried out by “Abu al-Bara’ al-Muhajir” and “Abu Aisha al-Ansari”.
The nom de guerre “al-Muhajir” [the migrant in Arabic] is typically used by foreign fighters. Thus, this is a clear sign that ISIS is once again recruiting foreigners in Syria, very possibly from the jihadists who came to the country before the fall of the regime of former president, Bashar al-Assad.
Separately on June 16, a judicial official in the southern governorate of Rif Dimashq was severely wounded after his car was blown up with an explosive device. ISIS claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt, which took place in the Daf al-Shouk of the capital, Damascus.
The terrorist group said in a statement shared by Amaq the very next day that the head of the Courthouse Department in the town of Babbila lost one of his legs in the attack.
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Later on June 17, ISIS issued another statement via the news agency claiming responsibility for an attack that targeted one of the tankers transporting oil from Iraq to Syria for export near the town of Manbij in the northern governorate of Aleppo. The attack took place five days earlier. No casualties were reported at the time.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, there have been reports of ISIS rearming and reorganizing, particularly in central Syria. Following the Islamic-led Interim Government’s offensive against Kurdish forces in the north and east of the country last year — which resulted in the release of thousands of suspected ISIS members — the group’s influence has significantly expanded in those regions.
There have also been warnings that ISIS members are infiltrating the new military and security forces, which are largely staffed by radicals, including foreign jihadists.
Based on all of this, the latest wave of attacks by ISIS is by no means surprising. In fact, more is to be expected as this may be just the beginning of a long and bloody insurgency.
While the government in Syria has repeatedly vowed to counter ISIS, is capability to do so is questionably, especially that many elements in its ranks share the same radical ideology with the terrorist group.
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