Landmine kills 2 SDF fighters in Raqqa

Kurdistan 24 2022/04/11 19:26

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) holds up the group’s flag at the iconic Al-Naim square in Raqqa, Syria, during the celebration of Raqqa’s liberation, Oct. 17, 2017. (Bulent Kilic, AFP/Getty Images).

Syria SDF raqqa ISIS AANES Sleeper cells

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Two members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were killed and three injured when a landmine destroyed their car as they passed through Hisha town north of northeast Syria’s Raqqa province on Sunday evening, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Monday.

ISIS sleeper cells regularly carry out attacks in SDF-held areas. While most of these cells are active in the eastern Arab-majority Deir al-Zor province, some still carry out attacks in Raqqa, which was once the de-facto capital of the group’s self-styled caliphate until the SDF captured it in October 2017 with support from the US-led coalition.

In late March, the SDF-affiliated Internal Security Forces (Asayish in Kurdish) captured a suspected ISIS member near Raqqa.

SOHR documented over 50 attacks in areas controlled by the SDF and the civilian Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) since the beginning of 2022. These attacks have killed at least 24 SDF fighters and 15 civilians. These figures exclude the failed jailbreak operation ISIS carried out in Hasakah in January.