ISIS launches +15 attacks across Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa in October
Shafaq News – Damascus
The Islamic State (ISIS) ramped up its attacks in Syria this October, launching 16 operations across Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa that left four dead and more than a dozen wounded, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Thursday.
According to the Observatory’s report, the group carried out 13 assaults in Deir ez-Zor and three in Raqqa, killing two civilians and one Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter, while injuring 13 members of the SDF and Internal Security Forces (Asayish).
One of the deadliest clashes, SOHR added, broke out in Raqqa’s al-Karama town, where Asayish units killed an ISIS fighter during a shootout that also wounded two civilians caught in the crossfire.
#المرصد_السوري16 هـ ـجـ ـومـ ـاً لـ ـتـ ـنـ ـظـ ـيـ ـم "الـ ـدولـ ـة الإسـ ـلامـ ـيـ ـة" على مناطق سيطرة "#قسد" توقع نحو 20 قـ ـتـ ـيـ ـلاً وجـ ـريـ ـحـ ـاً خلال تشرين الأول https://t.co/a6ZzqIQOtU
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) October 30, 2025
Tactics included ambushes, bombings, and targeted shootings, revealing what the watchdog described as an evolving strategy aimed at prolonging instability across northeastern Syria.
SOHR noted that ISIS is exploiting remote terrain and a thinning security presence to rebuild its networks, with some raids involving arson against homes and public buildings. In several cases, militants extorted residents by posing as religious tax collectors, demanding “zakat” under threat of violence.
Analysts link the surge to broader regional shifts, as ISIS regroups across Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon while adopting low-profile guerrilla tactics to avoid detection. The SDF continues to warn that sleeper cells remain entrenched in northern Syria despite ongoing counterterrorism efforts.
Read more: ISIS regroups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon: a new strategy?
