Four Syrian internal security personnel killed in ISIS checkpoint attack west of Raqqa

Four members of Syria’s Internal Security Forces were killed and two others injured on Monday (23 February) in an attack by the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group targeting a checkpoint west of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, the Interior Ministry said.

It's reported to be the group's deadliest attack on government forces since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad 8 December 2024.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that an Internal Security Forces checkpoint in Raqqa was subjected to what it described as a terrorist assault. 

Security forces said in a statement it managed to neutralise one suspected Daesh attacker, adding that operations to comb the area were continuing.

The ministry noted that this was the second assault on security forces in the area within two days. The same checkpoint was reportedly targeted on Sunday, when an attacker was killed.

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The Syrian state news agency said forces foiled Monday's attack and killed one of the militants. It quoted a security source as saying Islamic State carried out the attack.

Separately, one soldier was killed after unknown gunmen attacked the army headquarters in the city of Mayadin in Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria, the Syrian state news agency reported on the early hours of Tuesday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which occurred in the same city where the Islamic State carried out an attack days earlier.

Previously, the ISIS group had seized control of Raqqa in 2014, declaring it the capital of its so-called caliphate, before being driven out in 2017 by a U.S.-led international coalition.

The region subsequently fell under the control of the YPG/SDF, which Türkiye considers a terrorist organisation. The Syrian Army has recently regained control of the area.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces on Monday began withdrawing from their largest military base in the northeast, according to three Syrian military and security sources. This is part of a broader pullout of U.S. troops who were deployed to Syria a decade ago to fight Islamic State.

The Syrian government joined the U.S.-led coalition to combat Islamic State last year. In January, government forces seized control of Raqqa from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) along with much of the surrounding territory in northern and eastern Syria.

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