Five ISIS Assassination Plots Against Syrian President Al-Sharaa and Ministers Foiled in 2025, UN Report Reveals

The United Nations has disclosed that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his most senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five separate assassination plots carried out by an ISIS front group over the course of 2025, according to a report released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

The revelation lays bare the scale of the threat facing Syria's transitional government barely a year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, and raises urgent questions about the capacity of the new administration to secure a country still riddled with armed factions and ungoverned spaces.

Al-Sharaa, the former leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham who assumed the presidency after his forces ousted Assad in December 2024, was targeted twice — once in northern Aleppo and once in the southern province of Deraa Five plots to kill Syrian president or ministers were foiled last year, says UNtheguardian.com·SecondaryReport on Islamic State says Ahmed al-Sharaa was targeted twice by IS front group that bombed Damascus church Five separate plots to assassinate Syria’s president and top ministers were foiled last year, the UN said on Wednesday in a report on Islamic State.. Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani were also among the targets Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government.. The UN did not provide specific dates or operational details of the foiled attacks.

The plots were attributed to a group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, which counter-terrorism experts assessed to be an ISIS front organisation . The group, described as comprising between five and twelve decentralised cells, was designed to provide ISIS with plausible deniability while offering improved operational capacity to strike high-value targets without immediately implicating the central leadership Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government.. According to the Guardian, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah was also responsible for a bombing of a church in Damascus last summer Five plots to kill Syrian president or ministers were foiled last year, says UNtheguardian.com·SecondaryReport on Islamic State says Ahmed al-Sharaa was targeted twice by IS front group that bombed Damascus church Five separate plots to assassinate Syria’s president and top ministers were foiled last year, the UN said on Wednesday in a report on Islamic State..

A separate regional intelligence official confirmed last autumn that al-Sharaa had faced assassination attempts, which were foiled after Syria's security establishment received intelligence from a neighbouring country on the plots Five plots to kill Syrian president or ministers were foiled last year, says UNtheguardian.com·SecondaryReport on Islamic State says Ahmed al-Sharaa was targeted twice by IS front group that bombed Damascus church Five separate plots to assassinate Syria’s president and top ministers were foiled last year, the UN said on Wednesday in a report on Islamic State..

The report paints a broader picture of an ISIS insurgency that has regrouped despite losing its territorial caliphate years ago. The UN estimates the group still commands approximately 3,000 fighters across Iraq and Syria, with the majority based in Syria . Between June and November 2025, member states attributed at least 129 attacks to ISIS, primarily using improvised explosive devices, vehicle-borne explosives, assassinations, and ambushes Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

Most incidents were concentrated in Deir ez-Zor, with nearly 70 percent targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government.. From late November, the group expanded its attacks into Idlib and Aleppo provinces, targeting Syrian military forces. The UN warned that ISIS has established networks across all Syrian governorates, embedding sleeper cells in urban centres including Damascus itself Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

The lethality of these cells was demonstrated on December 13, 2025, when an ambush near Palmyra killed two US servicemembers and an American civilian, while wounding three other Americans and three Syrian security personnel . The perpetrator was identified as a newly recruited Syrian security forces member with reported links to ISIS, underscoring the group's continued ability to infiltrate state institutions Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

In response to the Palmyra attack, US President Donald Trump launched military operations aimed at eliminating ISIS fighters in the region . Syria formally joined the US-led international coalition to defeat ISIS in November 2025, following a meeting between al-Sharaa and Trump in Washington — a significant shift marking Damascus's engagement with Western-backed security efforts after decades of antagonism Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

The security situation is further complicated by the status of tens of thousands of detainees. Following a ceasefire agreement with Kurdish-led forces, the Syrian government has taken control of sprawling camps housing ISIS suspects and their families . As of December, more than 25,740 people remained in the al-Hol and Roj camps in northeastern Syria, with the UN noting that over 60 percent of camp residents are children Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government.. Analysts have warned that al-Hol in particular represents a ticking timebomb for radicalisation Five plots to kill Syrian president or ministers were foiled last year, says UNtheguardian.com·SecondaryReport on Islamic State says Ahmed al-Sharaa was targeted twice by IS front group that bombed Damascus church Five separate plots to assassinate Syria’s president and top ministers were foiled last year, the UN said on Wednesday in a report on Islamic State..

In late January, the US military began transferring ISIS detainees held in northeastern Syria to Iraq, with Baghdad pledging to prosecute the fighters in its courts Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UNaljazeera.com·SecondarySyrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations. The document, released on Wednesday by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, underscores the persistent threat posed by the armed group, which is reportedly using front organisations to destabilise Syria’s transitional government..

ISIS has meanwhile stepped up recruitment since the fall of Assad, styling al-Sharaa as an apostate and publishing photographs of his meetings with Trump as proof that he had abandoned his Islamist roots and turned toward the West Five plots to kill Syrian president or ministers were foiled last year, says UNtheguardian.com·SecondaryReport on Islamic State says Ahmed al-Sharaa was targeted twice by IS front group that bombed Damascus church Five separate plots to assassinate Syria’s president and top ministers were foiled last year, the UN said on Wednesday in a report on Islamic State.. The strategy reflects the group's broader effort to delegitimise the transitional government and exploit the ideological fault lines within Syria's fractured political landscape.

The UN report underscores a central paradox of Syria's post-Assad transition: the very leader who toppled the old regime now finds himself the primary target of a jihadist insurgency that thrives on instability. Whether al-Sharaa's government can consolidate security while simultaneously navigating Western partnerships and domestic expectations remains the defining question of Syria's uncertain future.