In Syria, there is a rapid resurgence of the "Islamic State," which was defeated more than eight years ago. The militants have changed tactics: they do not wear uniforms, operate in small groups, and organize ambushes on roads, taking advantage of the reduction of the American contingent and political instability after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. This is stated in the material of The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
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According to The Wall Street Journal, ISIS, formed in 2003 in Iraq after the American invasion, is regaining influence in Syria amid the reduction of the US military presence and the coming to power of the "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham" group in December 2024. After their defeat in Raqqa in 2017, the militants retreated to the Deir ez-Zor province, where they remained invisible among the civilian population and communities.
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Since April 2025, the US has withdrawn about 500 of its two thousand troops, transferring some bases to the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). This allowed ISIS to transform into a "decentralized mobile underground," actively recruiting new members and attacking security forces. By August 2025 alone, the militants had carried out 117 attacks in northeastern Syria, exceeding the figure for the entire year 2024. Deir ez-Zor remains the hottest spot, where about three thousand ISIS militants are concentrated.
Experts note that distrust of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former jihadist and current leader of Syria, gives the militants room to operate. Some SDF commanders doubt that former radicals in power have truly abandoned extremist ideology, making the region extremely vulnerable to new attacks.
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