The Syrian government launched a security operation on Sunday (December 14, 2025) against cells of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in the Syrian desert in response to yesterday’s terrorist attack in Palmyra in the center of the country, which, according to official media, killed two American soldiers and their civilian interpreter.
“In response to the terrorist attack in Palmyra, a security operation will be launched against Islamic State cells in the areas of Al Furqlus, Al Qaryatayn and Al Badia on the outskirts of the Homs region,” said Syria’s official Al Ijbariya television, which did not provide further details.
Yesterday evening, Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al Baba assured on official television that the slain perpetrator of the attack “does not hold a leadership position within the internal security forces,” although an investigation is underway “as to whether he is linked to ISIS or simply shares the organization’s ideology,” Al Baba said.
The Islamic State is silent
According to the Syrian spokesman, the attack occurred at the entrance to a barracks and command center in the Palmyra desert, near the city of Homs and about 200 kilometers northeast of Damascus, where a suspected member of ISIS opened fire on “a joint patrol of the international coalition command and the command of the internal security forces in the region,” according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which reported on Saturday an “ambush of a lone Islamist.” State shooter in Syria.
Trump attributed the attack to ISIS and said it was “targeted against the United States and Syria, in a very dangerous area of Syria that is not fully controlled by them.” However, the Syrian presidency has not yet issued a statement and the Islamic State has not yet claimed responsibility for this action.
ISIS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, despite repeated warnings that the terrorist organization’s threat remains latent in various parts of the central Syrian desert, which stretches across several provinces of the country.
(mn/efe, afp)
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