Two Syrian security personnel were killed and five injured during an October 22, 2026, raid on an ISIL cell in Rankous near Damascus, which left five militants dead and six arrested. The operation forms part of a counterterrorism surge by President Ahmad Al Shara's post-Assad interim government. As ISIL attacks on state forces rose from 16 in 2025 to 52 in early 2026, Syria joined the anti-ISIL coalition to establish international credibility.
Rankous ISIL cell raid
- ▪Syria's Internal Security Forces conducted the October 22, 2026, raid against the ISIL cell in Rankous jointly with Syria's General Intelligence Service near the Lebanese border.
- ▪The Syrian Interior Ministry reported that five alleged ISIL fighters were killed, six were arrested, and explosive belts were seized after suspects opened fire during the October 22, 2026, Rankous raid.
- ▪On October 22, 2026, two members of Syria's Internal Security Forces were killed and five wounded during a raid targeting a suspected ISIL cell in Rankous, in the western Damascus countryside.
- ▪Rankous residents reported that clashes on October 22, 2026, lasted two to three hours starting around 6:00 a.m. and that Syrian security forces subsequently imposed a curfew.
Rising ISIL attacks in Syria
- ▪A December 2025 bombing at the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in Homs' Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood killed eight people and injured 18 during Friday prayers.
- ▪A December 2025 attack on U.S. troops in Palmyra, in which a Syrian security forces member opened fire during a joint patrol, killed two U.S. soldiers and an interpreter.
- ▪Armed Conflict Location and Event Data reported that ISIL attacks targeting Syrian government forces increased from 16 incidents in 2025 to 52 in the first half of 2026.
Syrian government counterterrorism operations
- ▪Syrian security authorities arrested suspected ISIL military commander Khaled Raed Birouni, also known as Abu Hassan Dushka, in Hujaira on October 6, 2026.
- ▪Syrian security forces dismantled an ISIL-linked cell in Homs province's Houla area in October 2026, arresting two members and seizing two explosive devices.
- ▪On October 16, 2026, Syrian intelligence and internal security forces arrested two suspects for plotting an explosive device attack against a police patrol in the Damascus countryside.
Syria's post-Assad security positioning
- ▪Syria joined the 90-member international anti-ISIL coalition in November following an agreement reached when President Ahmad Al Shara visited the White House.
- ▪Syria's interim administration under President Ahmad Al Shara, established after the fall of Bashar Al Assad's regime in December 2024, seeks to demonstrate international reliability by combating ISIL.
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