Syrian authorities announced on Sunday that security forces had detained two suspected members of the Daesh group in the eastern region. Officials blamed the pair for a wave of targeted killings.
The internal security forces released a statement detailing the operation, saying the arrests followed close intelligence surveillance in Deir Ezzor governorate.
The two suspects face accusations of carrying out a series of assassinations across the area. Their most recent target was Ministry of Defense member Ibrahim Al-Jassem, who was attacked in the city of Mayadin.
Since taking power in late 2024 after unseating Bashar Assad, the country’s new leadership has regularly reported the capture of suspected Daesh members and associated underground cells.
Daesh previously seized control of large territories across Syria and neighboring Iraq in 2014. Territorial defeats followed later, with the group losing its final strongholds in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
The diminished militant network continues to claim occasional attacks, primarily targeting security personnel inside Syria.
In July, Syrian authorities held the group responsible for a bombing in Damascus that coincided with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. Officials stated they successfully dismantled the specific cell behind that blast.
A United Nations Security Council report presented that same month estimated that the group maintains roughly 3,000 fighters inside Syria.
The same UN document showed that security forces had thwarted multiple assassination plots directed at Syrian officials, including President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
