ISIS is slowly recuperating its strength in the ruins of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, and even more fighters could break out of detainment, The New York Times reported Monday.
The terrorist group has recently increased their attack frequency and intensity, despite not reaching their once ascendant levels of power in the 2010s, United Nations and U.S. officials told the NYT Wednesday. ISIS fighters reportedly have their eyes on freeing their fighters from numerous prisons across Syria, which house up to 9,000 and 10,000 Islamic State fighters and about 40,000 family members in Northeast Syria.
Assad was ousted by a rebel group led by Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in December 2024, with the aid of some Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) forces. In the ruins of the old regime, an interim government formed out of the rebel leadership.
An anonymous U.S. defense department official told the NYT that ISIS has claimed responsibility for 294 attacks in 2024, up from the 121 it claimed in 2023. The United Nations’ Islamic State monitoring committee estimated about 400 attacks, and other observers in Syria put the number above even that, according to the NYT.
“That’s where the experienced, battle-hardened fighters are,” Colin Clarke, the head of research for the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security firm, told the NYT.
“One big attack in Damascus against foreigners or expats and everybody’s going to change how they view it, so we need to be cautious,” Aaron Zelin, Washington Institute fellow who has tracked Islamist groups’ activities and propaganda, told The NYT.
As of December 2024, there are around 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria, with America holding bases in the northeast with Kurdish rebel group Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and in the south at the al-Tanf base. Many SDF bases house the detained terrorists.
Turkish-backed militias have been distracting the SDF with incursions to the north, which has left many of the prison camps with lackluster security.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) told the Daily Caller News Foundation that it’s posture in Syria remains unchanged, and that the mission to defeat ISIS is still ongoing.
“CENTCOM, along with our allies and partners, is committed to the ongoing Defeat-ISIS campaign to degrade ISIS networks and prevent the resurgence of the terrorist group in the region,” CENTCOM told the DCNF. “CENTCOM continues to target terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from CENTCOM.
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