Shafaq News – Damascus

ISIS attacks have surged in areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2025, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

The UK-based monitoring group noted a “notable resurgence of sleeper cell activity, particularly in eastern and western Deir ez-Zor,” despite ongoing operations by the SDF and the US-led Global Coalition.

Since the start of the year, 224 ISIS operations were recorded in areas under the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration, leaving 98 people dead: 70 from SDF and allied forces, 13 ISIS fighters, and 15 civilians.

In one week, the observatory documented nine attacks across SDF-held areas, eight in Deir ez-Zor and one in Hasakah. The incidents included the shooting of a collaborator with the SDF in Al-Baghuz, eastern Deir ez-Zor, and the subsequent death of an Asayish member from injuries on the Muhamida-Al-Maamal road in western Deir ez-Zor.

Other attacks hit an Asayish center in Dhiban, a checkpoint in Al-Busayrah targeted by gunmen on a motorcycle, and a Revolutionary Youth (Jawanen Shorshkar) vehicle near the al-Halabiyah roundabout in northern Deir ez-Zor.

The observatory reported that ISIS cells remain active, particularly in areas with weak security and growing tribal influence, complicating efforts to track and counter the group.

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