On 27 Jule 2016, ISIS mercenaries carried out a massacre of civilians in Qamishlo. The mercenaries killed 62 people, including children and injured 177 more.

Ismail Abdul Karim was 11. As ANHA writes in a piece paying tribute to the victims, the child left the house on the morning of 27 July 2016, to go to his music course, as he loved songs and played the tanbur. 

Darya Abdul Salam, the mother of Ismail told ANHA what happened that day. "Ismail woke up at 5:00 in the morning. He was very nervous after hearing a sound from the playground next to our house. When it was time for his music lesson, he told me that he was starving. I prepared breakfast for him and then he left the house saying goodbye. He said goodbye to everyone, even his friends in the neighborhood."

She added: "I watched him until he reached the main street. After a few seconds, an explosion occurred and black smoke rose and filled the city’s sky. I went quickly to look for my child, but I did not find him. There were corpses everywhere."

This year's anniversary of the massacre comes under the sinister figures of ISIS attacks from January to June 2024. The mercenaries claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in Syria and Iraq. This increase in attacks clearly indicates that ISIS is trying to regain its strength after several years of decline.

Mustafa Mustafa, a researcher at the Euphrates Center for Studies, told ANHA that there is a growing danger of ISIS mercenaries in areas controlled by the Damascus government, and warned about the risk of the attacks spreading.

In the first half of this year, the Internal Security Forces of Northern and Eastern Syria managed to dismantle 43 cells of ISIS mercenaries. In addition, they seized 121 explosive devices, including 49 in Jazira Canton, 30 in Raqqa , 17 in Deir ez-Zor, 18 in Tabqa, 2 in Euphrates, and 5 in Manbij Canton. Moreover, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested 233 ISIS mercenaries, including leaders, and eliminated 10 other mercenaries, during 28 security operations.

There are more than 19,000 ISIS mercenaries, including foreig nationals, Iraqis, and Syrians, in detention centers inside the region, as well as two camps for ISIS mercenary families that include a large number of mercenary women and children, according to statistics obtained by ANHA.

Most notably the attack on Al-Sina'a prison in Hasaka in 2022, and the attack on Al-Hol camp in 2023 confirmed the ongoing efforts of ISIS mercenaries to reach these detention centers and camps.