Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for two attacks that targeted Syrian army personnel in both northern and eastern parts of the country, and issued a statement describing the actions as the start of a new operational phase directed at Syria's leadership.
In its Dabiq news bulletin, the group said it had shot "an individual of the apostate Syrian regime" in the city of Mayadin in Deir al-Zor province using a pistol. The bulletin also reported a separate incident in the northern city of Raqqa in which two other personnel were attacked with machine guns.
Syria's Defence Ministry issued a statement saying that a Syrian army soldier and a civilian were killed on Saturday by "unknown assailants." A military source said the soldier was a member of the army's 42nd Division.
The claims arrive amid what Islamic State described as a sharp escalation of activity directed at Syria's leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The group characterized Sharaa - described in available accounts as a former al Qaeda leader who broke with the group in 2016 before leading a coalition of Islamist factions that overthrew President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024 - as a principal target.
On Saturday evening Islamic State released an audio statement by its spokesperson, Abu Hudhayfa al-Ansari, in which the group said Syria had "moved from Iranian occupation to Turkish-American occupation." The statement announced a "new phase of operations" within Syria, labeled Sharaa a "watchdog" of the global coalition, and vowed that his fate would be "no different from that of Assad."
The record of events noted that Sharaa signed Syria's accession to the global coalition to defeat Islamic State during a visit to the United States last November, when he met President Donald Trump.
These reports follow another incident two days earlier in Deir al-Zor, which Islamic State claimed, saying it killed a member of the Interior Ministry's internal security forces and wounded another. In recent hours, several social media accounts and Telegram channels that support Islamic State have called for intensified attacks using motorcycles and firearms.
Since the fall of Assad, Islamic State has carried out six attacks against Syrian government targets. A U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism report released last week stated that Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers had been the targets in five foiled assassination attempts attributed to Islamic State.
The developments underline a period of heightened militant activity against senior figures in Syria's post-Assad political order, with Islamic State signaling both tactical operations on the ground and a strategic intent to focus on the country's new leadership.