ISIS Resurgence Alarms Western Kurdistan: 66 Attacks Recorded Since Start of 2025
These operations have resulted in the deaths of 23 individuals, including 13 SDF members and affiliated military personnel, 5 ISIS fighters, and 5 civilians, SOHR reported.
By Ahora Qadi
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In a troubling sign of renewed militant activity, Islamic State (ISIS) cells have carried out 66 attacks across areas under the control of the Autonomous Democratic Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) since the beginning of 2025, with the latest incidents targeting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions in Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah provinces Northeastern Syria (Western Kurdistan).
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), these operations have resulted in the deaths of 23 individuals, including 13 SDF members and affiliated military personnel, 5 ISIS fighters, and 5 civilians. The attacks have been carried out using a variety of tactics—including improvised explosive devices, armed assaults, and targeted bombings—amid a broader security vacuum.
Targeted attacks across Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah
In recent days, ISIS cells have executed at least four separate attacks. In the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, militants detonated an IED targeting a military vehicle in the Hawi area near the village of al-Jarzi. Separately, a group of gunmen hurled a sound bomb at an Asayish security site in the town of Dhiban, and later launched an RPG at a checkpoint near the al-Omar oil field—also in Dhiban.
In southern Hasakah, gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on a military vehicle in the town of Markadah. No casualties were reported in the latest string of attacks, though the surge in operations has prompted growing concern among residents and security officials.
Mounting toll from a revitalized insurgency
The majority of ISIS’s attacks in 2025 have been concentrated in Western Kurdistan, where 54 of the 66 recorded operations occurred in Deir ez-Zor. These resulted in the deaths of 9 SDF fighters, 1 ISIS operative, and 5 civilians, while injuring 13 others. In Hasakah, 9 operations claimed 7 lives—4 of whom were ISIS members, alongside 2 Asayish officers and 1 SDF fighter. Three additional operations took place in Raqqa, leading to one fatality among the Asayish and injuries to three others.
The operations have escalated concurrently with a large-scale internal security campaign inside al-Hol Camp—a facility notorious for harboring ISIS loyalists and their families. Analysts say the crackdown inside the camp may have triggered retaliatory action from sleeper cells.
A persistent and evolving threat
The pattern of attacks underscores the persistent danger posed by ISIS remnants, who continue to exploit security gaps and the region’s fragile stability. Though the group has lost its territorial caliphate, its insurgent operations—especially in rural and oil-rich areas of Deir ez-Zor—remain a potent destabilizing force.
Security officials in Western Kurdistan have warned that without sustained international support, the threat may escalate further. The attacks highlight the need for a coordinated counter-terrorism strategy, both to neutralize sleeper cells and to address the underlying drivers of radicalization, particularly in vulnerable areas such as displacement camps and economically marginalized communities.
