Reports: ISIS Regains Its Activities in Syria

Recent developments in Syria indicate that the ISIS group has reportedly made a comeback to the country after its presence has deteriorated in the past years.

According to UN and US officials, ISIS has shown renewed vigor in Syria, attracting fighters and increasing attacks, adding to the volatility of a country still reeling since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

In a proactive step to reduce the immediate risk of the terrorist organization, Washington had roughly doubled the number of its troops on the ground in Syria, to 2,000, and its many strikes on ISIS in the Syrian desert in the last few months appear to have tamped down the immediate threat.

But experts said those measures won’t be enough if the threat of ISIS isn't dealt with at its roots.

They said there is a risk that ISIS can find a way to free thousands of its hardened fighters who are held in prisons guarded by US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.

The Times showed that between 9,000 and 10,000 ISIS fighters and about 40,000 of their family members are detained in northeastern Syria. Their escape would not only add to the group’s numbers but also provide a propaganda coup.

“The crown jewel” for ISIS “is still the prisons and camps,” Colin Clarke, the head of research for the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security firm, told The Times.

Top US intelligence officials last month presented to Congress their annual worldwide threat assessment, concluding that ISIS would try to exploit the end of the Assad government to free prisoners and to revive its ability to plot and carry out attacks.

The US has hopes that the new Syrian government will become a partner against a resurgent ISIS. The initial signs were positive, with the group acting on US-provided intelligence to disrupt eight ISIS plots in Damascus, according to two senior US military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations.

But sectarian-driven violence last month, in which hundreds of civilians were killed, showed the government’s lack of control over some forces nominally under its command, and it is unclear how much bandwidth it will have to fight ISIS, The Time wrote.

ISIS, which traces its beginnings to Al Qaeda in Iraq, is not a threat from the past anymore. According to a US defense department official who spoke anonymously to discuss information that has not yet been released publicly, the group claimed 294 attacks in 2024, up from the 121 it claimed in 2023. The UN ISIS monitoring committee estimated about 400 attacks, while human rights observers in Syria said the number was even higher.

The group’s resurgence reinforces concerns of renewed bloody scenarios, especially since ISIS exploited the chaos of Syria’s civil war to seize vast swaths of territory and return to Iraq.

The Times said concerns over a possible prison escape by ISIS detainees have been heightened by ongoing violence in the northeast.

The detention centers in northeastern Syria are guarded by the Kurdish-led fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces, who also help guard the nearby camps that hold ISIS family members. But those forces have been distracted by attacks from Turkish-backed militias.

The prisons have already proven to be a concern. In 2022, nearly 400 ISIS-linked prisoners escaped during an ISIS assault on a prison in the city of Hasaka. At the time, US Special Operations forces helped the Syrian Democratic Forces get control of the situation.

In Al Hol, the largest camp where ISIS women and children have been held for years, the extremist group has been testing the boundaries.

In a recent report, a UN committee said the chaos surrounding the fall of al-Assad allowed some ISIS fighters to escape the camp, although it was not clear how many.

If the Syrian Kurds are weakened, “there is no question that it will create a vacuum,” said Kawa Hassan, an Iraqi analyst and a nonresident fellow at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan organization in Washington. “And only ISIS thrives in a vacuum.”

A comprehensive strategy that goes beyond airstrikes and the presence of foreign troops is currently needed in Syria. This strategy should address the root causes of the return of extremism to ensure that ISIS will not use prisons and camps to launch its violent activities that has long been the main driver of chaos and destruction in the Middle East.

A wave of anonymous phone calls urging residents to evacuate buildings in southern and eastern Lebanon sparked fresh panic on Saturday over potential Israeli attacks. Though the threats later proved to be unfounded and traced to local sources, the incident unfolded amid heightened tensions and the continued presence of Israeli military aircraft in the skies above South Lebanon.

According to local media reports, Lebanese citizens in the town of Tammine in the Bekaa Valley (eastern Lebanon) received phone calls urging them to evacuate a residential building. Security forces immediately launched an investigation into the origin of the calls, while residents evacuated the building as a precaution.

After coordination with Lebanese security agencies, authorities confirmed the caller was Lebanese and the threat lacked credibility. Legal measures were initiated against the individual responsible for the hoax threat.

Security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the calls were made from within Lebanese territory, and the numbers are being tracked using technical means. “We are monitoring these calls and pursuing those responsible,” a source said.

This incident is the latest in a series of similar events. Over the past few months, especially during the expanded conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, hundreds of Lebanese citizens have received anonymous calls warning of imminent strikes, spreading fear across communities.

Lebanese authorities have arrested around 20 individuals linked to these threats. Security officials noted that during periods of active conflict, Lebanon’s military intelligence identified coordinated foreign campaigns - some linked to Israel - aimed at inciting fear among the population.

“These calls were part of organized external efforts, and in some cases, the Lebanese army’s intelligence managed to trace and neutralize them by blocking digital access points used to relay such messages,” a security source explained. “They were indeed causing panic among residents.”

Residents, particularly in southern Lebanon, say they have no choice but to treat such calls seriously. Israel has occasionally issued official warnings ahead of attacks, as seen in two incidents in Beirut’s southern suburbs after a ceasefire agreement took effect. However, in other instances, Israeli aircraft have carried out strikes without warning, further fueling concern among civilians and prompting widespread caution.

Saturday’s panic was further heightened by intensified Israeli aerial activity over southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported low-flying Israeli fighter jets over the villages and towns of Tyre district, as well as over Jezzine and the eastern sector of the south.

Local activists also reported Israeli drones flying at low altitude above the Litani River basin. One drone reportedly dropped two sound bombs over the Wadi al-Asafir area in the town of Khiam.

Reports: ISIS Regains Its Activities in Syria