ISIS cells active: Escalation threatens northeast Syria
Shafaq News/ ISIS attacks are intensifying in northeast Syria, with suspected militants targeting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in Deir ez-Zor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday.
According to the Observatory, an RPG targeted an SDF post in Al-Tyyanah town on Thursday, causing material damage. A second RPG was fired at a military vehicle dispatched as backup, but no casualties were reported.
The attack is part of what SOHR described as a “worrying escalation” by ISIS cells in northern and eastern Syria. Since the beginning of 2025, it has documented 61 ISIS operations—ranging from ambushes to bombings—across Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah, and Al-Raqqah provinces.
At least 23 people have been killed in these operations, including 13 SDF fighters, five civilians, and five ISIS members. Most of the activity has been concentrated in Deir ez-Zor, where 50 attacks have taken place this year alone, SOHR said.
The tactics demonstrate ISIS’s ability to adapt to evolving security dynamics and sustain pressure across the region, the observatory warned.
Following ISIS’s territorial defeat in 2019, the group shifted to insurgent tactics, capitalizing on security gaps and local instability—particularly in central and eastern Syria—to launch attacks against the SDF and civilians.
The challenge is compounded by overcrowded detention facilities in northeastern Syria, which house thousands of former fighters and their families under limited security.
