Damascus: The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing that targeted Syrian government troops, marking the group’s first assault on state forces since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad.
In a statement issued late Thursday, ISIL announced that its militants detonated an explosive device against a Syrian military vehicle in southern Syria’s Sweida province. The blast, which occurred on May 22 in the remote al-Safa desert area, reportedly resulted in the deaths or injuries of at least seven Syrian soldiers, according to sources on the ground.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the incident and noted that it was the first ISIL-acknowledged attack on the post-Assad government’s military. Until now, the group has primarily focused its operations against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria.
ISIL also claimed responsibility for a separate bombing earlier this week targeting fighters from the US-backed Free Syrian Army in a nearby region. That attack reportedly left one fighter dead and three others wounded. Neither the Syrian government nor the Free Syrian Army has publicly responded to the incidents.
Analysts say the attacks represent a potential shift in ISIL's tactics. Although weakened and lacking territorial control since its defeat in 2019, ISIL continues to operate through sleeper cells, particularly in Syria’s central and eastern deserts. The group’s decision to strike government forces could signal an effort to reassert influence amid the ongoing instability and realignment of power in the war-torn nation.
The new leadership in Damascus, which replaced Assad following his removal in December, has previous affiliations with al-Qaeda—a rival of ISIL—but severed those ties nearly a decade ago. Until now, ISIL had largely ignored the new government, concentrating its activities on Kurdish forces aligned with the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Security experts warn that the resurgence of ISIL attacks, though limited in scale, may reflect the group’s strategy to exploit weakening control by state forces and further destabilize the region.
