BEIRUT (Lebanon), Feb 22 — The Islamic State group yesterday urged its fighters to confront Syria’s new authorities, in its spokesperson’s first audio message in two years.

In a recording posted online, Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari said IS members in Syria must fight “the new Syrian regime, with its secular government and national army” and “make that their priority”.

The last time al-Ansari posted an audio message was in January 2024, when he urged IS supporters to kill Jews around the world in revenge for Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s new authorities, who had links to the Al-Qaeda jihadist group, have sought to break from their radical past and present a moderate image.

Last year, Syria joined the US-led coalition against IS and has been coordinating attacks against the group’s remnants in the country.

IS swept across Syria and Iraq in 2014, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery.

Backed by US-led forces, Iraq proclaimed the defeat of IS in 2017, followed two years later by its defeat to Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

Last month, Syrian troops advanced against Kurdish forces, sparking questions over the fate of the IS prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities.

Amid lingering doubts about security, Washington transferred more than 5,700 IS detainees from Syria to Iraqi prisons.

A camp that once held relatives of IS fighters has now been emptied — residents either left or were moved to a new location by the Syrian authorities. — AFP