February 23, 2026.
Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Sharaa has come under recent fire by ISIS’s media and propaganda wing. The group called Sharaa a “puppet without a soul” controlled by the West, stating that he will have a similar fate as Bashar al-Assad. The audio message, delivered by ISIS spokesman Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari, is the first released by ISIS in months. Aside from criticizing the Syrian president who himself is the former leader of al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, ISIS also called on all supporters to increase attacks on Western and Jewish targets. Al-Ansari also said Assad was replaced with “a regime that is subjected to American influence,” and is ruled by the “crusaders.” However, despite Sharaa’s past affiliation with Jihadism, he and his government have joined the international coalition to fight against ISIS. This follows months of large-scale U.S strikes against ISIS, targeting key infrastructure and hideouts.
Syria is at a very fragile and uncertain state. Integration of the SDF and Syrian Kurds remains at the forefront of focus for the Syrian government and the U.S. However, disagreements between the two over representation sparked major clashes, seeing the SDF lose a significant amount of territory and economic assets such as oil fields. On the other hand, ISIS may attempt to take this opportunity to begin new attacks against the Syrian government or any other opposition. However, due to the recent U.S strikes, Syria’s joining of the anti-ISIS coalition, and the SDF’s constant pressure on ISIS, the terror group remains at a low point in terms of capability and capacity. However, today the major threat that ISIS poses, particular to the west, is not the standard organization militant terrorism and attacks that we have seen in the past decades, but instead the ideology itself. ISIS seeks to radicalize not just citizens living in the Middle East, but also those in the West, such as the U.S, U.K, and Germany, where there have been many previous cases. Therefore, ISIS ideology and homegrown terrorism remain the biggest threat to U.S citizens, as many lone wolf attacks occur with little to no communication with the larger group.
Islamic State lashes out at Syria’s interim president and urges new attacks | AP News
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