The Islamic State group released an audio message late Saturday calling Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa a “puppet without a soul” controlled by Western countries and urging followers to attack Jewish and Western targets. The message, attributed to ISIS spokesman Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari, marks the group’s first audio released in months.
The statement reflects the deepening rift between the extremist organization and Syria’s new government, which took power after rebel forces led by al-Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham removed longtime president Bashar Assad in December 2024.
Despite military defeats in Iraq and Syria, ISIS continues to carry out attacks across the region and remains a significant security threat to the new Syrian leadership.
In the audio message, al-Ansari said Iran and Assad have been replaced “with a regime that is subjected to American influence.” He vowed new ISIS attacks in Syria, saying “Syria has entered a new era of defense and the convoys of jihad will eventually march in Syria.”
The message also included greetings from ISIS leader Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi to fighters in the group, signaling continued organizational structure despite the group’s territorial collapse.
Al-Sharaa’s Rapid Reorientation
Al-Sharaa, a former leader of al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, has moved quickly to rebuild Syria’s international standing since taking power. He has met with Western officials and in 2025 became the first Syrian head of state to visit Washington since Syria’s independence in 1946. His government has allowed the United States and other nations to maintain military presence in parts of Syria.
The shift marks a dramatic reversal from Assad’s three-decade rule, which was closely aligned with Iran. According to the U.N., Syria’s president, interior minister and foreign minister were targets of five assassination attempts last year, highlighting the ongoing security threats facing the new government.
Persistent Threat Despite Defeats
ISIS has been blamed for a series of attacks across the region in recent months. In December, the group was blamed for an assault in central Syria that killed three Americans and prompted intense U.S. airstrikes on suspected ISIS hideouts. The organization has also carried out attacks blamed on it in Iraq and Pakistan.
Despite losing its territorial caliphate in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later, ISIS maintains sleeper cells in both countries that continue to carry out deadly attacks. The audio message did not address significant recent changes in ISIS’s operational environment.
Shifting Detention Landscape
More than 5,700 suspected ISIS detainees were recently transferred from prisons in northeast Syria to Iraq, and the al-Hol camp that housed more than 24,000 people linked to the group is now mostly empty after government forces took control from U.S.-backed Kurdish forces.
The audio, which al-Ansari said marked the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, comes after months of silence from ISIS’s official communications channels.