Syria

‘Signal of command and control’: New ISIS audio shows consolidation, not comeback, analysts say

Leadership messaging points to internal discipline and network survival rather than renewed territorial expansion.

|ByGIORGIA VALENTE/THE MEDIA LINE
Illustration of ISIS terrorists.
A Syrian man takes up arms at a gasoline station in a frontline village on January 23, 2026 in Sweida, Syria.

Syrian government, Druze renew participation in new US-backed talks - report

Reports say that a prisoner deal in Sweida could pave the way for a deal that resolves the crisis with Damascus and provides locals with administrative and security powers.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Members of the Syrian government security forces stand guard as a group of female detainees gather at al-Hol camp after the government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026.

EU memo raises security concerns over mass escape from IS-linked Syria camp

The memo said the status of third-country national escapees remained unclear, with many in the camp being "highly radicalised."

|ByREUTERS
Members of the Kurdish community and other protesters attend a demonstration against recent military clashes between the Syrian army and Kurdish forces, in Berlin, Germany, January 24, 2026.

Rojava failed, but Kurdish pragmatism may succeed where utopia did not - opinion

Rojava is shifting from revolutionary autonomy toward conditional integration.

|ByVEYSI DAG

ISIS attacks near Raqqa signal growing threat amid US withdrawal - analysis

The Syrian security forces have mostly closed a large camp called Al-Hol, where families linked to ISIS had been confined. Around 15,000 of these family members left, most of them children.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Armed members of the Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) military police take part in a demonstration under the banner “With our will, we will protect our revolution”, in Qamishli, Syria, September 17, 2025.

Washington's tactical amnesia on Syria could fuel jihadist resurgence - analysis

Why Western policy may be paving the way for Islamist rule, ethnic cleansing, and regional instability

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByERIC R. MANDEL
Soldiers from Hay’at at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a prominent Sunni Islamist militant group and political organization formerly affiliated with al-Qaeda, hold a demonstration in Damascus, Syria.

Islamic State terrorists kill four Syrian government security personnel in northern Syria

The assault on a checkpoint west of Raqqa city underlined an escalation in attacks by the jihadist group against President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByREUTERS
An ISIS member carries an Islamic State flag in Syria.

Iraq's FM says Ankara agreed to take back Turkish citizens among IS detainees moved from Syria

Iraq took in the detainees in an operation arranged with the United States after Kurdish forces retreated and shut down camps and prisons that had housed IS suspects for nearly a decade.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026ByREUTERS
This aerial view shows vehicles by the tent shelters for people arriving from the Hol camp in eastern Syria, at the Akbaran camp near Akhtarin, in the north of Aleppo province, on February 17, 2026.

US continues gradual withdrawal from Syria as major ISIS family camp closes

“The United States on Monday began withdrawing from Qasrak Base in Hasaka, northeastern Syria (Rojava), transferring equipment to Iraq,” Rudaw Kurdish media reported.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S. troops are seen during a patrol near Turkish border in Hasakah, Syria November 4, 2018

Syria announces major drug bust through coordination with Iraq against Captagon trafficking

A source in the Syrian Ministry of Interior told The Media Line that anti-narcotics units carried out what he described as a “high-quality” security operation in Homs province.

FEBRUARY 23, 2026ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
KURDISH INTERNAL security forces stand guard after seizing a quantity of captagon pills in Qamishli, Syria, March 25, 2025.

Why Mike Huckabee's interview with Tucker Carlson matters for the Middle East - analysis

The interview has led to a debate in some sectors about how views on Israel and the Middle East are shaping US policy, and also how religious views have shaped policy in the region.

FEBRUARY 22, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
(L-R) US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Tucker Carlson

Weakened but willful: Experts tell ‘Post’ Hezbollah role in potential Iran war possible but costly

The assessment comes only days before the Saudi media outlet Al-Arabiya reported that Hezbollah is now being led by officers from Tehran’s IRGC.

FEBRUARY 22, 2026ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
A person holds a flag with an image of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as people wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV, during his first apostolic journey, in Beirut, Lebanon, November 30, 2025.

Crisis-driver or Gaza stabilizer? Why Turkey believes it switched roles with Israel - analysis

Ankara feels that from the Horn of Africa to the Eastern Mediterranean and Syria and Iraq it has increased its influence greatly in the last years. 

FEBRUARY 22, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
The flags of Turkey and Israel are flown as President Isaac Herzog makes a state visit to Turkey, March 9, 2022.

Australia denies it is working to repatriate Islamic State family members

The 34 women and children were released on Monday from the camp in northern Syria, but returned to the detention center due to technical reasons.

FEBRUARY 22, 2026ByREUTERS
Women and children queue in the rain during a joint security operation by Syria's Kurdish Internal Security Police Force, and the Kurdish-led SDF at Camp Roj where foreign relatives of people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group are held, April 5, 2025.