BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Daesh claimed responsibility for an attack near Manbij in northeastern Syria that killed two regime soldiers, the latest salvo in a militant resurgence that analysts say is exploiting the chaos left by the fragmentation of armed groups once mobilized with foreign backing to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
The attack came as Syria’s de facto leader, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani—a former Daesh and Al-Qaeda deputy whose Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized Damascus in December 2024—struggles to consolidate control over a country fractured by years of war and foreign intervention.
The de facto Syrian Defense Ministry said two soldiers were killed by unidentified gunmen near the village of Tahna, west of Manbij. Daesh later claimed the attack in a statement on its Telegram channels, according to monitoring groups.  
The assault underscores the deepening fragmentation of Syria’s armed landscape. For years, an array of militant groups—including factions backed by Western, Persian Gulf Arab, Turkish, and Israeli interests—mobilized to topple Assad. That coalition has since splintered, leaving Daesh and HTS to compete for dominance in the void left by collapsing alliances and shifting foreign priorities.
Al-Jolani, who once served as a deputy to both Daesh and Al-Qaeda leaders, now governs as head of HTS. Since overtaking Damascus, his forces have engaged in widespread sectarian violence against Alawite, Shia Muslim, Druze, and Christian minorities. Thousands have been displaced or killed in campaigns that human rights groups have described as systematic communal cleansing.
The March 2025 coastal massacres, which killed an estimated 1,700 Alawites in reprisal killings, were linked by investigators to al-Jolani’s security apparatus. A June 2025 report documented the abduction of at least 33 Alawite women and girls, alongside deadly clashes with Druze communities in Jaramana and Sahnaya.
Daesh’s resurgence exploits this instability. Between 2,500 and 3,000 Daesh loyalists remain active across Syria, operating in small cells that carry out night ambushes, IED attacks, and targeted assassinations. The group intensified its operations in February, announcing a “new phase” of attacks against al-Jolani’s government.
The attack near Manbij highlights the persistent security vacuum. Jolan’s forces have expanded their presence in parts of northern and eastern Syria, even as U.S. forces withdraw from positions in the northeast. 
But analysts warn that as long as al-Jolani’s forces continue their sectarian campaigns and foreign powers remain fragmented in their interests, Daesh will continue to exploit every fissure—and Syria will remain a battlefield of competing takfiri visions, each backed by their own patrons.