SDF arrests alleged ISIS financier in Deir al-Zor

The SDF said the operation stopped the “funding of terror”.
Counter-terrorism HAT units of the SDF in northeastern Syria. (Photo: SDF Coordination and Military Operations Center)
Counter-terrorism HAT units of the SDF in northeastern Syria. (Photo: SDF Coordination and Military Operations Center)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in a joint operation with the US-led coalition, arrested an alleged Islamic State (ISIS) financier in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Wednesday.

The SDF's Coordination and Military Operations Center said the operation was carried out by the Internal Security Forces, also known as Asayish in Kurdish.

The SDF said the operation stopped the “funding of terror”.

The Syria-based Rojava Information Centre (RIC) also reported, in a tweet on Wednesday, that the suspected ISIS financier was named Maysir al-Hamid. The SDF arrested him in the town of al-Basira.

The US Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF LEVANT), which oversees activities in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt, said on Thursday in a tweet that the SDF continues to prevent the return of ISIS in northeast Syria.

“The @Coalition remain to assist our partner forces in the #defeatDaesh mission,” the SOJTF said.

Even though ISIS lost the entirety of its self-styled caliphate two years ago, the group still has networks of sleeper cells across northeast Syria that continue to threaten the security of that region.

Most of these attacks are in Arab-majority Deir al-Zor. In contrast, there are relatively few ISIS attacks or activities in other parts of northern Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led SDF.