Isis vows new phase of Syria attacks in rare recording
Militant group calls Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa a western ‘puppet without a soul’
Isis has called Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa a “puppet without a soul” controlled by the west and vowed to continue attacks in the country, in a rare audio recording released on Saturday night.
Syria joined the international coalition to defeat Isis last year after Sharaa met US President Donald Trump at the White House. A former Islamist militant group leader, Sharaa has sought to cultivate a broad base of international allies since taking power by toppling the Assad regime in late 2024.
In the recording, an Isis spokesperson identified as Abu Huzayfah al-Ansari called on followers to fight against the Syrian authorities, describing the new government and military as apostates who were ruled by “crusaders”.
“They thought they had turned the page of jihad in Syria . . . rather, Syria has entered a new chapter”, the spokesperson said. He characterised Sharaa’s overthrow of Assad as a Turkish and American farce.
The UN reported in early February that Sharaa was assessed to be a priority target of Isis. It said five assassination attempts were foiled in 2025 against Sharaa and his interior minister and foreign minister.
The unusual audio recording, which was reported by newswires, followed the flight of thousands of Isis-linked detainees from camps in north-eastern Syria this month. Mostly the families of Isis members, they have spread out around the country and are largely unaccounted for.
The US also transferred 5,700 suspected Isis prisoners from Syrian camps to Iraq between January 21 and February 12.
Isis militants were driven out of their last strongholds more than six years ago, having once held a swath of land in Iraq and Syria that was about the size of Britain. But the group maintains cells in Syria that have continued to carry out attacks.
In December, an Isis ambush in the Syrian city of Palmyra killed two US soldiers and an American interpreter. In response, the US said it had launched hundreds of strikes on Isis targets across the country over the past two months.
On Saturday, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said its forces had been targeted by unknown attackers in the Raqqa countryside, killing a soldier and a civilian.