Saraya Ansar Al-Sunnah, a group that emerged in spring 2025 and has operated across northern Syria (Idlib, Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Latakia and Tartous) and Rural Damascus,243 has been assessed by the UN to be a front group for ISIL. It consisted of between 5 and 12 decentralised cells as of late 2025. Within its ranks were ISIL members, former fighters of Hurras Al-Din (see further below in this subsection), and other militant factions. The group’s operational focus lies on targeting minority groups.244 It claimed major deadly bombing targeting the Mar Elias Church in Damascus (June 2025)245 and the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs city (December 2025)246 and carried out two assassination attempts against interim president Al-Sharaa (in Aleppo and Dar’a) at unspecified points in time in 2025.247
Although the al-Qaeda loyalist group Hurras Al-Din formally announced its dissolution in January 2025,248 it was assessed as of late 2025 that the group continued to exist as al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate. It was estimated to have up to 1 000 fighters and to maintain links with the al-Qaeda leadership and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).249 Moreover, there were an estimated 5 000 foreign fighters under arms in Syria, including Uzbek militants250 and around 4 000 Uyghur fighters.251 Most notably, the country’s northwest saw a presence of Uzbek fighters, of the Uyghur-dominated252 Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP), and Firqat Al-Ghuraba,253 a French-speaking jihadist group consisting of around 50 combatants. Both Firqat Al-Ghuraba254 and Uzbek fighters were involved in clashes with government forces in Idlib during the reference period.255 Meanwhile, Uyghur fighters were reported to have contributed to the former opposition’s offensive that toppled the Assad regime.256
- 243
Garofalo, D., Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah’s Micro-insurgency in Syria, The Jamestown Foundation, 15 January 2026, url
- 244
UN Security Council, Thirty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, S/2026/44, 4 February 2026, url, para. 53
- 245
STJ, "I Carried My Mother’s Remains, Her Limbs Scattered on the Ground": The Bombing of Mar Elias Church in Dweilaa and the Limited Official Response, August 2025, url, p. 3; Zelin, A., The Damascus Church Attack: Who Is Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah?, TWI, 25 June 2025, url
- 246
BBC, Blast at Syrian mosque during Friday prayers leaves at least eight dead, 26 December 2025, url
- 247
UN Security Council, Thirty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, S/2026/44, 4 February 2026, url, para. 53
- 248
Al-Tamimi, A.J., Hurras al-Din: The Rise, Fall, and Dissolution of al-Qa`ida’s Loyalist Group in Syria, May 2025, url, p. 18
- 249
UN Security Council, Thirty-seventh report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team submitted pursuant to resolution 2734 (2024) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals and entities, S/2026/44, 4 February 2026, url, para. 62
- 250
MEO, Thousands of foreign fighters pose crucial test for Syria’s new leadership, 8 June 2026, url
- 251
Enab Baladi, NPR: 20,000 Uyghurs Live in Syria, 19 May 2026, url
- 252
MEO, Thousands of foreign fighters pose crucial test for Syria’s new leadership, 8 June 2026, url
- 253
UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/61/62, 12 March 2026, url, para. 22
- 254
Shtuni, A., From Insurgency to Statecraft: Al-Sharaa and Syria’s Foreign Fighters Test, 19 February 2026, url, pp. 4-5
- 255
MEO, Thousands of foreign fighters pose crucial test for Syria’s new leadership, 8 June 2026, url
- 256
NPR, The foreign fighters who helped topple Assad — and why China worries about them, 19 May 2026, url