SDF arrests ISIS suspect near Hasakah
“We remain committed to prevent a Daesh (ISIS) resurgence, and partner forces will keep Northeast Syria and its people secure.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Saturday that they arrested a suspected ISIS terrorist in southern Hasakah province with the support of the US-led coalition.
“Our special units, enabled by the international coalition, have arrested a dangerous terrorist affiliated with Daesh (ISIS) and responsible for manufacturing IEDs and transported them to Daesh cells in the countryside of al-Hasakah and Deir [al-Zor],” the SDF press center said.
The SDF unit tracked down the suspect arrested him inside his home, located in Mercada town in the southern countryside of Hasaka, the SDF statement explained.
The forces also found equipment used in the making of explosives, as well as weapons, ammunition, documents, and other technical equipment, in the suspect's possession.
“This operation is part of the joint and ongoing steps of our forces and the international coalition to eradicate Daesh cells and other terrorist cells” that aim to undermine “security and stability in the north and eastern Syria,” the SDF statement concluded.
The official Twitter account of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the US-led coalition against ISIS, in a tweet said that they will continue to work with the SDF.
“We remain committed to prevent a Daesh (ISIS) resurgence, and partner forces will keep Northeast Syria and its people secure.”
Although the SDF and the coalition announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in March 2019, sleeper cell attacks persist in what appears to be a deliberate campaign to destabilize northeastern parts of the nation, primarily in cities, towns, and rural tracts of land once under the extremist group’s control.
However, most of the ISIS activities take place in the Deir al-Zor province.
Read More: SDF-linked unit arrests 'important' ISIS suspect in Syria's Deir al-Zor
The SDF specified in an earlier tweet that ISIS launched 20 attacks in August, killing 15 civilians and security personnel. Moreover, in the notorious al-Hol camp in the Hasakah province, ISIS-affiliated assailants killed 11 people and wounded four others in August.
Over the same period, 83 ISIS suspects were arrested with the support of the coalition.