Several assassination attempts targeted Syria’s al-Sharaa, ministers: UN

Report by Secretary-General Guterres reveals ‘Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah’ group sought to kill Ahmed al-Sharaa and top cabinet members last year.Published On 12 Feb 2026Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and two of his senior cabinet ministers were the targets of five foiled assassination attempts by ISIL (ISIS) over the past year, according to a report by the United Nations.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’s transitional government.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 – the country’s most populous province – and the southern province of Deraa.‘Plausible deniability’The UN report identified the perpetrators as a group calling itself “Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah”.Counterterrorism experts assessed this entity to be a front for ISIL, designed to provide the fighters with “plausible deniability” while offering “improved operational capacity” to strike high-value targets without immediately implicating the central leadership.The report warned that these attempts are further evidence that the group is “actively exploiting security vacuums and uncertainty” to undermine the new Syrian administration.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.