Five assassination attempts targeting Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa and two senior Cabinet members were foiled last year, according to the UN’s latest assessment of the threat posed by ISIS (Daesh).

The details were included in the 22nd report of the secretary-general on the threat posed by ISIS to international peace and security, prepared in coordination with the UN Counter-Terrorism Office, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Al-Sharaa was identified as a priority target, alongside Interior Minister Anas Khattab and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, the report said.

Two assassination plots against the president were carried out in the cities of Aleppo and Daraa by Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, a group not listed by the UN but assessed to be operating as a front for ISIS. The arrangement provided the group with plausible deniability while enhancing its operational capacity, according to the report.

Despite sustained counterterrorism operations, the security situation in Syria remains fragile, the report said, with ISIS cells continuing to operate across the country.

Attacks were primarily directed at security forces, particularly in the north and northeast, including one targeting coalition forces jointly led by Syria and the US.

ISIS also sought to inflame sectarian tensions to weaken national authorities, including by organizing attacks on places of worship, the report said.

An estimated 3,000 ISIS fighters remain active across Iraq and Syria, with the majority based in Syria.

Although the Syrian desert retains strategic significance, it no longer constitutes the group’s main stronghold, the report added.

Despite operational setbacks, ISIS maintains both the intent and capability to carry out attacks and exploit political and sectarian divisions, it warned.

Syria formally joined the anti-ISIS coalition last November. Formed in 2014, the coalition has carried out military operations against the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq, although Damascus was not previously a member.

Since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, the new Syrian administration has been working to tighten security conditions nationwide. (Anadolu Agency, excluding headine)

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