{"id":670,"date":"2026-02-12T11:49:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/?p=670"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:49:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:49:32","slug":"several-assassination-attempts-targeted-syrias-al-sharaa-ministers-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/?p=670","title":{"rendered":"Several assassination attempts targeted Syria\u2019s al-Sharaa, ministers: UN"},"content":{"rendered":"

News<\/a><\/main><\/p>\n

Several assassination attempts targeted Syria\u2019s al-Sharaa, ministers: UN<\/h1>\n

Report by Secretary-General Guterres reveals \u2018Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah\u2019 group sought to kill Ahmed al-Sharaa and top cabinet members last year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa greets supporters outside the White House, on Monday, November 10, 2025, in Washington, DC, following a meeting with President Donald Trump [Jacquelyn Martin\/AP Photo]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

By <\/span>Al Jazeera Staff<\/a> and News Agencies<\/div>\n

Published On 12 Feb 2026<\/span>12 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa<\/a> and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS)<\/a> over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s transitional government.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the assassination plots targeted al-Sharaa, Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani. While the UN did not provide specific dates for the foiled attacks, it noted they took place in northern Aleppo \u2013 the country\u2019s most populous province \u2013 and the southern province of Deraa.<\/p>\n

\u2018Plausible deniability\u2019<\/h2>\n

The UN report identified the perpetrators as a group calling itself \u201cSaraya Ansar al-Sunnah\u201d.<\/p>\n

Counterterrorism experts assessed this entity to be a front for ISIL, designed to provide the fighters with \u201cplausible deniability\u201d while offering \u201cimproved operational capacity\u201d to strike high-value targets without immediately implicating the central leadership.<\/p>\n

The report warned that these attempts are further evidence that the group is \u201cactively exploiting security vacuums and uncertainty\u201d to undermine the new Syrian administration.<\/p>\n

Al-Sharaa, the former leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, assumed leadership of Syria after his forces ousted longtime President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, ending a 14-year civil war. His government officially joined the international coalition against ISIL in November.<\/p>\n

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Persistent threat<\/h2>\n

Despite losing its territorial base, ISIL maintains a significant underground presence. UN experts estimate the group commands approximately 3,000 fighters across Iraq and Syria, with the majority based in Syria.<\/p>\n

The group primarily targets security forces, particularly in the north and northeast of Syria.<\/p>\n

The lethality of these sleeper cells was highlighted during an ambush on December 13, 2025, near Palmyra, in which two United States servicemen and an American civilian were killed. Three other Americans and three members of the Syrian security forces were also wounded.<\/p>\n

In response to the Palmyra attack, US President Donald Trump launched military operations aimed at eliminating ISIL fighters in the region.<\/p>\n

Detainee transfers<\/h2>\n

The security situation is further complicated by the status of thousands of detainees. Following a ceasefire agreement with Kurdish-led forces, the Syrian government has taken control of sprawling camps housing ISIL suspects and their families.<\/p>\n

As of December, more than 25,740 people remained in the al-Hol and Roj camps in the northeastern part of Syria. The UN highlighted the humanitarian dimension of the crisis, noting that more than 60 percent of the camp residents are children.<\/p>\n

In late January, the US military began transferring ISIL detainees held in northeastern Syria to Iraq to ensure they remain in secure facilities, with Baghdad pledging to prosecute the fighters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Several assassination attempts targeted Syria\u2019s al-Sharaa, ministers: UN Report by Secretary-General Guterres reveals \u2018Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah\u2019 group sought to kill Ahmed al-Sharaa and top cabinet members last year. Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa greets supporters outside the White House, on Monday, November 10, 2025, in Washington, DC, following a meeting with President Donald Trump [Jacquelyn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypremiumbulletin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}