Syria

Security gaps in Syrian camps and prisons raise risk of ISIS reemergence

A senior Syrian security source familiar with intelligence reports said: “There are indications that some ISIS detainees managed to escape from certain prisons during the past months.”

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Women and children seen inside al-Hol camp, amongst them some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities, and including relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists in the desert region of Hasakah province on January 25, 2026 in Al Hasakah, Syria.
Members of the military police stand near a bus carrying released detainees during a prisoner exchange between the Syrian government and Druze factions, in Sweida, Syria, February 26, 2026.

US efforts helped pave way for Syria-Druze deal, source tells 'Post'

Months of US diplomacy paved the way for a historic detainee swap between Damascus and the Druze of Sweida, marking a breakthrough in Syrian peace efforts.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A long exposure shows people visiting the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center in Shanghai on July 28, 2025.

US warns Syria against using Chinese telecom technology over national security concerns

The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and the Syrian Communications Minister, Abdulsalam Haykal, in San Francisco.

|ByREUTERS
Syrian army increases security measures in and around al-Hol camp, located south of Al-Hasakah, where families of Daesh members, most of them women and children, are being held, in Syria, on January 25, 2026.

Syria blames SDF withdrawal for chaos and escapes at al-Hol camp

The camp, located near the Iraqi border, had long housed relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) members alongside civilians displaced by years of conflict.

|ByTHE MEDIA LINE STAFF

As Damascus prepares for Ramadan, its cannon call to prayer returns after 14 year haitus - feature

Ramadan in Damascus brings vibrant markets, traditional foods, Maghrib prayers, and the historic Ramadan cannon, creating a festive, nostalgic, and community-filled atmosphere.

FEBRUARY 26, 2026ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
A vendor prepares trays of hot food at a street stall as Muslims prepare for the holy month of Ramadan in Damascus, Syria, February 18, 2026.

In post-Assad era, Hezbollah’s shrinks to cells, smugglers, and cheap rockets - analysis

The Iranian proxy group once helped sustain Assad’s war machine; now it stands accused of running deniable operations with cheap hardware.

FEBRUARY 26, 2026ByWASEEM ABU MAHADI/THE MEDIA LINE
Hezbollah and Syrian flags are seen fluttering in Fleita, Syria, 2017

Damascus, Druze forces exchange prisoners after Sweida violence

The swap involved Damascus releasing 61 prisoners from the Druze factions detained in Adra Central Prison near the capital.

FEBRUARY 26, 2026ByREUTERS
Syrian security forces walk together along a street, after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern Druze city of Sweida early on Wednesday, in Sweida, Syria July 16, 2025.

Russian nationals among ISIS prisoners in Iraq to be repatriated, officials say - analysis

Iraq took in around 6,000 male ISIS members over the last month as US Central Command transferred them from Syria to Iraq.

FEBRUARY 26, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Russian policeman stands in front of the Iraqi embassy in Moscow, July 29, 2003. Russia said an embassy employee went to a police station around dawn on Tuesday to report that several armed men had entered the embassy overnight and stolen at least $3 million from a safe in the mission.

‘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.

FEBRUARY 25, 2026ByGIORGIA VALENTE/THE MEDIA LINE
Illustration of ISIS terrorists.

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.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Syrian man takes up arms at a gasoline station in a frontline village on January 23, 2026 in Sweida, Syria.

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."

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByREUTERS
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.

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

Rojava is shifting from revolutionary autonomy toward conditional integration.

FEBRUARY 24, 2026ByVEYSI DAG
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.

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.