International alarm is growing over fighting in western Syria, where hundreds of civilians have been reportedly killed amid intense clashes between the country’s new government and loyalists to the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad. Pro-government forces have been accused of killing scores of residents in revenge massacres.

Syria is experiencing its deadliest period since the ousting of longtime President Bashar al-Assad three months ago, as clashes have erupted between government forces and pro-al Assad fighters this week, leaving hundreds of civilians and fighters dead. Since Thursday, more than 1,000 people—including Christian minorities and Alawites, the sect to which Assad belongs—have been killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) and local reports.

The al-Qaeda-affiliated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) forces who took over Damascus in December killed hundreds of Syrian civilians over the last two days, targeting Alawites and Christians. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on March 7 that 240 people had been killed in two days of violence in the coastal region of western Syria, which is heavily populated by members of the Alawite minority. The victims massacred include many children and women.

The vehicle-ramming attack by a U.S. Army veteran that killed 15 and injured more than 30 holiday revelers in New Orleans on Wednesday highlights the threat of a resurgent Islamic State that has a history of inspiring disaffected individuals to commit mass murder.

That could force a review of U.S. priorities that have lately focused on Russia and China as national security threats while giving a back seat to lone-wolf jihadist terrorist plots, analysts said.

Early on New Year’s Day, police say, a 42-year-old Army veteran drove a rented truck flying a black ISIS flag into a crowd of New Orleans revelers, killing at least 15 people and injuring over 30 more. The attack, which the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism, comes on the heels of a similar attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, that killed five and injured dozens, and it follows an FBI warning to law enforcement on Dec. 6 to prepare for low-tech vehicle ramming attacks at outdoor crowds during the holiday season. 

Ayear before twin New Year’s Day incidents in New Orleans and Las Vegas darkened the start of 2025, the Department of Homeland Security commissioned a study that warned America was facing a new era of terrorism and was ill-prepared to protect its citizens from that threat.

Organizers have canceled three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria after authorities said they foiled a terror attack planned for the Vienna leg of her blockbuster Eras tour.

The extraordinary decision – which could come at significant cost to Vienna’s businesses – has devastated fans and renewed focus on the vulnerability of huge concerts as soft targets for terror networks and spree killers.

ISIS-K, the terrorist organization that killed more than 140 Russians March 22 in Moscow, would like to replicate the attack in the United States, but it lacks the capability, current and former senior U.S. officials say.

“The U.S. remains target No. 1 for ISIS-K,” said Mark Quantock, a retired two-star Army general who oversaw intelligence operations for U.S. Central Command. “They clearly would like to strike the homeland, but their challenge is penetrating our security, which has proven to be quite resilient in recent years.”

In Loyob, they do not believe anyone from their village was capable of taking part in the jihadist massacre at Moscow's Crocus City Hall.

But Faridun Shamsiddin is now one of four Tajik citizens held in a Moscow jail suspected of murdering at least 143 people last week. The 25-year-old is also accused of recruiting two other men to help the gunmen.

He left Loyob, about 40km north-west of the capital Dushanbe, several months ago in search of work in Russia.