ISIS Claims Responsibility for the Killing of Two Syrian Soldiers in Raqqa Countryside

SadaNews - Two soldiers of the Syrian army were killed in an attack by ISIS in the countryside of Raqqa province in northern Syria, according to local sources.

The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated in a statement that a Syrian soldier and a civilian were killed on Saturday by "unknown attackers".

A military source told Reuters that the soldier belonged to the 42nd division of the army.

ISIS claimed responsibility in a new audio recording for the killing of two members of the Syrian security forces in the village of Al-Wasiti in northeastern Syria.

The group released an audio recording from its spokesperson via "Al-Furqan Media Foundation", calling on its fighters to intensify attacks against the Syrian state, considering that recent developments in Syria represent a new phase of conflict in the region.

The spokesperson referred to what he described as the "decline of Iranian influence and the appointment of a leadership loyal to the West and Turkey", referring to Syrian President Ahmad al-Shar' who he claimed confirms the validity of the group’s combat path against those he described as loyal to the West.

The organization announced the entry into a "serious phase of conflict", threatening that the future of the new Syrian leadership will not be better than that of previous leaderships, considering the current Syrian government as "apostate", urging its members to fight against it and warning other groups.

The group also directed a message to its captives held by the Syrian Democratic Forces who were transferred to Iraq, indicating that the organization is still globally active and conducting attacks in multiple areas, especially in Africa, which it described as a battlefield that hinders the efforts of the international coalition.

This escalation comes amid ongoing security threats from active cells of the organization in several Syrian areas and warnings of the possibility of executing new attacks in the near future.