Reports: ISIS is Active Again in Daraa, Syria

IMAGE: ISIS militant in Syria (2016)

Khaled Iskef
21st Century Wire

The reemergence of the terrorist organization “ISIS” is reported to be happening in parts of Syria, including in the former ‘rebel’ stronghold area of Daraa province, located in southwestern Syria.

In recent weeks, the province has witnessed several security incidents by unknown assailants, until finally, ISIS claimed responsibility for them.

According to the sources, “ISIS published two announcements in one day, adopted in the first one of which the assassination of the head of the State Security Detachment in the city of Inkhil Major Mohammed Aqel Jabbour. And in the second one, it refer to pay full allegiance of its fighters in the region to the new leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashemi al-Qurashi.”

Several incidents have taken place during the past months in Daraa, including targeting members of the Syrian Army and security forces, and assassinations of their members, with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines being planted in different areas of the governorate designed to target Syrian army convoys or buses.

It is also believed that these same terrorists have also targeted Russian army patrols several times, some of which led to casualties. It is believed that all those operations were done through unknown extremist “sleeper cells.”

It is also noteworthy that Daraa was one of the first Syrian governorates to break away from the control of the Syrian state, and had different militant groups and diverse organizations spread across it, before the Syrian Army eventually retook full control of the area in 2018 after the surrender of the militants and a subsequent settlement with the Syrian state.