Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing a member of the Syrian army in the town of al-Rai (northeastern Aleppo province, northern Syria), while media and government sources said the victim was a civilian and did not belong to the Ministry of Defense.
The organization said Wednesday, April 29, that its fighters targeted a soldier in al-Rai, killing him, according to Enab Baladi’s monitoring of the “Sah al-Wagha” website, which specializes in reporting the organization’s news.
Bozan told Enab Baladi that Mahmoud Farwati (24 years old) was a civilian and did not belong to the army, although he was wearing a military uniform at the time of the incident, citing local sources.
He noted, however, that Farwati’s brothers are affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, adding that the uniform he was wearing belonged to one of them.
Farwati was shot dead while returning from his construction job. He was hit by four bullets and died immediately.
Bozan also said that the slain young man was in poor financial condition and had been imprisoned several years ago in the notorious Saydnaya Prison.
The head of the media office at the Internal Security Directorate in Aleppo confirmed in a private group for journalists that the slain man was a civilian and did not belong to any government body.
Another incident in al-Rai
Northeastern Aleppo countryside witnessed a similar incident on March 2, when two members of the Syrian army’s 86th Division were killed by unknown assailants in al-Rai.
According to information obtained by Enab Baladi, the two men killed were Abdullah Ismail and Mohammed Othman, both affiliated with the Ministry of Defense.
These attacks come as part of a series of operations claimed by Islamic State against members of the Syrian government. Last week, the organization claimed responsibility for two separate attacks in the countryside of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria.
In a report published in issue 543 of its al-Naba newspaper, released on April 16, the organization said it had targeted a vehicle belonging to the “Syrian regime” in northern Raqqa province.
The newspaper said one “apostate” member of the Syrian regime, as it described him, was wounded in a machine-gun attack on Sunday, April 12.
It added that those it called “soldiers of the caliphate” targeted a Syrian army vehicle near the village of Shanina in Raqqa countryside with machine guns, wounding at least one member, according to al-Naba.
In a separate statement on April 17, the organization said its members targeted an oil tanker belonging to the “Syrian government” in the village of al-Makman in Raqqa countryside.
The newspaper claimed the attack was carried out with machine guns on April 16, damaging the tanker and causing its cargo to leak.
It did not provide any independent evidence, such as videos or photos, documenting the incident.
Strategy shift
Researcher on Islamic groups Ahmad Abazeid previously told Enab Baladi, commenting on the nature of Islamic State’s current operations, that the group has radically changed its strategy since losing its last stronghold in al-Baghuz (eastern Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria) in 2019.
Abazeid said the organization “moved to a different model, operating through small covert cells in each sector, while maintaining organizational cohesion and security vetting of its members.”
He explained that the organization’s strategy after the fall of the Assad regime did not change much in terms of method, “but it has become active in wider areas, while facing greater threats of security exposure than before, as shown by the Syrian Ministry of Interior operations that announced the arrest of several cells affiliated with the organization.”
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