The Washington Post cited a United Nations report saying that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Interior Minister Anas Khattab, and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani were targets of five assassination attempts that were foiled over the past year.
According to the newspaper’s report on Thursday, 12 February, the information was based on a report prepared by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism and submitted by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Security Council. The report addressed the threats the Islamic State group (ISIS) still poses in Syria.
Targeting in Aleppo and Daraa
According to the report, al-Sharaa was a primary target for the group and faced attempted attacks in northern Aleppo governorate (northwestern Syria) and in Daraa governorate (southern Syria).
The attempts, according to the report, were attributed to a group called “Saraya Ansar al-Sunna,” believed to be a front for ISIS.
The report said these attempts are further evidence of the group’s continued efforts to undermine Syria’s new government, and that it is actively exploiting security gaps despite the political changes Syria has seen since late 2024.
The report said al-Sharaa remains a key ISIS target, noting that the use of a front group gives ISIS plausible deniability and improves its operational capability.
The report did not include precise dates or details about the nature of the assassination attempts or how they were foiled.
3,000 fighters and ongoing activity
In November 2025, the Syrian government joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which previously controlled large areas of Syrian territory.
According to estimates by UN experts, ISIS still retains about 3,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq, most of them based inside Syria, with its attacks focusing on security forces, especially in the north and northeast, as reported by The Washington Post.
The report referred to an attack that took place on 13 December near Palmyra (Tadmur, in Homs governorate in central Syria), targeting US and Syrian forces. It said the attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian, and injured three Americans and three members of Syria’s security forces. This was followed by a US military response targeting ISIS positions.
In late January, the US military began transferring detained ISIS members who had been held in northeastern Syria to Iraq to ensure they remain in secure facilities. Baghdad announced it would prosecute these militants.
The report submitted to the Security Council said that as of last December, and before a ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was reached, more than 25,740 people were still held in al-Hol and Roj camps in northeastern Syria, 60% of them children.
Previous reports
The UN report is not the first indication of attempts to target President al-Sharaa. Reuters reported in November 2025 that Syrian authorities had foiled, over several months, two separate ISIS attempts to assassinate him.
Reuters quoted two sources described as “senior,” one Syrian and the other from a Middle Eastern country, as saying that one of the attempts targeted a publicly announced official event that al-Sharaa was scheduled to attend. No further details were disclosed due to the sensitivity of the case.
The Syrian Ministry of Information declined to comment when contacted by the agency.
Reuters: Syria foiled two Islamic State attempts to assassinate al-Sharaa
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