Four members of Syria’s Road Security Administration were killed and another wounded in an ambush on a security patrol in Idlib province, northwestern Syria, amid a growing wave of attacks claimed by the Islamic State group (IS or ISIS).
The Syrian Ministry of Interior said the patrol came under fire on the road to Maarrat al-Numan in southern Idlib on Sunday, 14 December, without initially naming those responsible. A correspondent for the independent Syrian outlet Enab Baladi reported that unknown assailants targeted the patrol near Idlib city’s southern bridge, causing multiple deaths and injuries (Enab Baladi, 14 December 2025). Specialized security units subsequently launched intensive sweep operations in the surrounding area in an attempt to track down the perpetrators, according to the ministry. Enab Baladi said it had obtained the names of the dead officers and photographs of their bodies but declined to publish them out of respect for the victims and their families.
On Monday, 15 December, IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its “Sah al-Wagha” outlet, which the group uses for official announcements. It said its fighters ambushed and killed four personnel it described as “apostates” affiliated with Syria’s Ministry of Interior in southern Idlib, referring to the location as part of what it calls “Wilayat al-Sham, Idlib.” The group’s claim followed the Syrian Interior Ministry’s earlier decision not to attribute the attack to any party.
The ambush comes against the backdrop of a broader escalation in IS operations across areas controlled by the Syrian government and its allies. On 13 December, IS said it attacked a Ministry of Interior security post in the Palmyra desert in eastern Homs governorate, claiming it had targeted both American and Syrian personnel stationed there.
The group has also claimed responsibility for several attacks on security and government-linked figures in recent weeks. On 4 December, it said it ambushed a customs police patrol escorting a transit truck in al-Zarbah, in the southern Aleppo countryside, killing two customs officers. On 9 December, IS announced it had killed a judicial official by detonating a sticky bomb attached to his car in Deir Hassan, in the northern Idlib countryside.
In a separate set of operations on 28 November, IS said it carried out two assassinations in Homs and Hama. Through “Sah al-Wagha,” the group claimed its fighters shot and killed a former regime candidate and wounded a member of the current government in Hama’s al-Tattan neighborhood. It also said its militants used automatic weapons to kill a former member of what it called “Rafidite militias” in the village of al-Mazra’a in Homs countryside.
IS additionally reported three attacks in what it refers to as “Wilayat al-Khayr” (Deir Ezzor governorate). The group claimed it killed a man it described as a government “spy” in al-Bukamal on 27 November, alleging he had previously served with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) before switching sides and using his work selling car spare parts to monitor and report on IS activity. It also said it had targeted two SDF members in separate incidents in the same region.
Syrian security services have responded with a series of raids in Idlib province targeting suspected IS cells. Earlier in December, the Interior Ministry announced two operations in cooperation with the General Intelligence Service, one in the Dana area near the Turkish border and another west of Idlib city. According to Brigadier General Ghassan Bakir, head of Internal Security in Idlib, the raids led to the seizure of weapons, ammunition, suicide vests, and ready-to-use explosive devices.
Two suspects were killed after “refusing to surrender,” while other alleged cell members were arrested. Initial investigations linked some detainees to the killing and secret burial of a civilian near Maarrat Misrin, north of Idlib city. The ministry said the detainees had been referred to the competent judicial authorities and vowed to continue security operations aimed at “drying up the group’s sources” and curbing IS activity in areas under its control.
Photo: Enab Baladi