Overview

• On May 22, IS said it detonated a device against a “regime vehicle” in the al-Safa desert of Sweida province, killing or wounding seven soldiers.
• The group also claimed an earlier blast this week targeted U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army fighters, killing one with three wounded.
• Analysts and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights describe the Sweida attack as the first IS strike on Syrian government forces since December 2024.
• President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s administration, which includes former al-Qaeda affiliates, has not issued any response to the IS claims.
• Despite its territorial defeat in 2019, IS’s sleeper cells remain active in Syria’s deserts and have broadened assaults against both government and U.S.-backed forces.