Is the Islamic State resurfacing in Syria once more? Terrorists murder 10 Syrian soldiers

Ten Syrian soldiers and fighters for the government were murdered by Islamic State group militants in the former jihadist stronghold of Raqa province on Tuesday, according to a war monitor, demonstrating their capacity to carry out lethal operations.

Despite losing their last pocket of land in Syria in 2019, IS has had a presence in the wide Syrian desert, where they have operated out of to conduct ambushes and hit-and-run strikes.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, “IS attacked regime positions and checkpoints… setting fire to military vehicles and prefabricated houses.”

According to the British-based monitor, which depends on a vast network of informants within Syria, six more troops were wounded in the strike on Monday evening, some of them were in severe condition.

In the south and east of Raqa province, government soldiers are in charge of the rural districts, while Kurdish fighters are in charge of the remainder.

The cruel “caliphate” of the IS organization was centered in the city of Raqa until they were driven out in 2017 by Kurdish-led troops supported by the US.

A Kurdish-led counteroffensive supported by a US-led coalition drove IS out of the final area it controlled in Syria in March 2019, but jihadist remnants have continued to carry out deadly strikes.

Targets have included civilians, Kurdish-led fighters, government forces, and fighters that support Iran.

Last week, terrorists assaulted an army-guarded convoy of oil tankers in the Syrian desert, killing seven individuals, two of whom were civilians.

At least six people were murdered in a rare attack in Damascus last month that was located close to the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, the most popular Shiite pilgrimage destination in Syria, and for which IS claimed responsibility.

Territorial victory

The harsh reign of the Sunni extremist organization was characterized by beheadings and mass shootings.

When fighting broke out in northwest Syria this week, IS claimed that its commander Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi was slain.

Since losing the last piece of the formerly vast “caliphate” it declared over huge portions of neighboring Iraq and Syria in 2014, IS has gone through five leaders.

Four of them perished, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the first “caliph” of the organization, who passed away in a US operation in October 2019.

After the regime of President Bashar al-Assad suppressed nonviolent demonstrations in 2011, civil conflict initially broke out in Syria. Since then, it has attracted international Islamists and foreign powers.

Nearly half a million people have died in the fighting, and more than half of the pre-war population has been forced from their homes, with many taking asylum in neighboring Turkey.