The terror group said via its Dabiq news agency that it had targeted “an individual of the apostate Syrian regime” in the city of Mayadin in Deir al-Zor province using a pistol, and had attacked two other personnel with machine guns in the northern city of Raqqa.

Meanwhile, Syria’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that a Syrian army soldier and a civilian were killed on Saturday by “unknown assailants.”

A military source told Reuters the soldier was a member of the army’s 42nd Division.

The assaults come amid a sharp escalation by Daesh against Syria’s leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda leader who lead the group until 2016 before heading a coalition of anti-government factions that ousted President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024.

Later on Saturday, the terror group released a recorded statement from its spokesperson, Abu Hudhayfa al-Ansari, saying Daesh had entered a “new phase of operations” in Syria, describing Sharaa as a “watchdog” of the global coalition and warning that his fate would be no different from that of Assad.

Sharaa signed Syria’s accession to the global coalition to defeat Daesh during a visit to the United States last November, when he met US President Donald Trump.

In a related development, the latest incidents follow a claim by Daesh two days earlier of responsibility for another attack in Deir al-Zur that killed a member of the Interior Ministry’s internal security forces and wounded another.

Separately, several social media accounts and Telegram channels supporting Daesh have in recent hours urged intensified attacks using motorcycles and firearms.

Since the fall of Assad, Daesh has carried out six attacks against Syrian government targets.

Additionally, a report released last week by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism said Sharaa and two senior cabinet ministers had been targeted in five thwarted assassination attempts by Daesh.