ISIS couple executes, plans attacks during Nowruz celebrations

A husband and wife belonging to ISIS sleeper cells have confessed to carrying out attacks on Internal Security Forces checkpoints in Raqqa, as well as planning simultaneous assaults during the celebrations of Nowruz holiday, and hosting ISIS members in their home.

8 August, 2025 09:43

NEWSDESK

The Media Center of the Internal Security Forces in North and East Syria released a video containing the confessions of the couple, who were part of ISIS cells in the city of Raqqa in the North and East Syria region.

In their confessions, the couple detailed their methods of communication and ISIS’s efforts to reorganize its ranks, in addition to the operations they carried out in various parts of Raqqa.

The couple played a direct role in three attacks in and around Raqqa, most notably the assault on the University checkpoint in the Kasrat area, which resulted in the martyrdom of three Internal Security Forces members.

The husband, Murhaf Kamel Safouk, admitted to hosting ISIS cell members in his home, where they prepared to launch multiple attacks in Raqqa.

Safouk also confessed that they were planning to carry out coordinated attacks on the eve of Nowruz celebrations in 2025, but their attempt failed when Internal Security Forces raided his home two days before Nowruz celebrations.

The raid led to the arrest of Safouk, his wife, and several other ISIS members the couple were hosting, as well as the killing of others.

His wife, Bayan Abdul Jawad Safouk, also admitted to escaping from al-Hol camp by paying $800 to a smuggling network previously targeted by the Internal Security Forces.

In her confession, Bayan Safouk said: “I married an ISIS emir (prince) who was a logistics officer in Raqqa in 2015, and then moved with him to Baghouz, where we were arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

The couple’s confessions also revealed that Murhaf met ISIS members at a mosque in Turkey on multiple occasions in 2023 and 2024.

Murhaf moved from Turkey to Syria in mid-2024 to take part in missions assigned to him by an ISIS cell emir via the Telegram app. He confirmed that he received money for his operations.

The Internal Security Forces reaffirmed that ISIS is still attempting to reorganize its ranks and stressed that they will continue efforts to combat the group and ensure security and stability in the region.

A-H

ANHA