ISIS Releases Propaganda Message Urging Fighters to Continue Operations in Syria

The Islamic State group released a propaganda message over the past week urging its members and foreign fighters in Syria to continue fighting against Syrian authorities and to avoid surrender or departure from the country. The message circulated through platforms linked to the group and focused on inciting attacks against the Syrian army and security forces, particularly in Deir ez-Zur, Raqqa, and the Syrian desert.

It claimed that Syrian authorities would gradually eliminate foreign fighters and called for what it described as a new phase of fighting.

ISIS first emerged openly in Syria in 2013 and reached the height of its territorial control between 2014 and 2015, seizing areas including Raqqa and parts of Deir ez-Zor. The group relied on local and foreign fighters as well as financing from oil revenues, taxation, and smuggling.

UN and Western estimates indicate that more than 40,000 foreign fighters joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq between 2013 and 2017. -led coalition, Syrian forces, Russian forces, and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the group lost its final territorial enclave in Baghouz in 2019.

A February 2025 UN Security Council report estimated ISIS strength in Iraq and Syria at 1,500 to 3,000 fighters, with most located in Syria and operating in small cells. Thousands of foreign nationals with alleged ISIS links remain in detention facilities in northeastern Syria.

Syrian Interior Ministry security agencies stated that they continue to monitor ISIS cell movements and have thwarted several plots and arrested individuals linked to the organization in recent months. The agencies described recent propaganda messages as reflecting organizational weakness.

Abdul Rahman Riyad, a Syrian affairs analyst, stated that the message reflects ISIS's attempt to exploit transitional phases or security shifts to reactivate its cells. -Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh stated that ISIS is no longer capable of returning in its 2014 form but still poses a security threat through guerrilla tactics and desert mobility.

Dr. Mahmoud al-Hamza stated that the call carries more propaganda and psychological dimensions than indications of a broad military comeback.