By Feras Dalatey and Khalil Ashawi
DAMASCUS, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Islamic State on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed one Syrian government security officer and wounded another in eastern Syria, marking an escalation in the group’s attacks against the country’s new leadership.
The group said through its Amaq news agency that it carried out the attack on Wednesday in Raghib town in Deir Ezzor province. A Syrian security source confirmed the two targeted officers were brothers.
The incident marks the fourth attack claimed by IS against Syrian government forces, following an assault in the Sweida desert in southern Syria in May and two attacks on security patrols in Aleppo and Idlib in December.
The attack comes amid a rise in the group’s operations in Syria. Last December, IS targeted a mosque in the central city of Homs with an explosive device, killing eight people and wounding 18.
U.S. military said on February 13 that it completed a mission to transfer 5,700 IS fighters from Syrian prisons to Iraq. This came after government forces seized swathes of the northeast from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, including several jails holding IS fighters.
IS considers Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former al-Qaeda leader who ousted president Bashar al-Assad in late 2024 – a main enemy and has repeatedly labelled him an “apostate” in its publications and monthly bulletins.
Under Sharaa’s leadership, Syria joined last December the global coalition to defeat IS – a move condemned by the group.
In November, Reuters reported that Syrian authorities had foiled two assassination attempts against Sharaa by the group during 2025.
A report by the U.N. Office of Counter-Terrorism released last week said Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers had been targeted in five foiled assassination attempts by IS.
(Writing by Feras Dalatey;Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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