IS suicide bomber arrested in Rojava

HASAKA, Syrian Kurdistan (K24) – On Tuesday, units of the People's Protection Units (YPG) arrested an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber in the city of Hasaka in Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan.

A K24 reporter said the anti-terror units of the YPG forces arrested a suicide bomber on a motorcycle with two magnetic mines in Al-Nashwa district of Hasaka. Al-Nashwa is an Arab-majority-inhabited area west of Hasaka.

Redur Khalil, the spokesman of the Kurdish forces of People's Protection Units (YPG), told K24, "Our anti-terror units caught the bomber in the early morning at a YPG checkpoint when he tried to escape the guards at the checkpoint. He was going to explode himself in a Kurdish area of the city."

A member of the Kurdish forces in Hasaka told K24 on Wednesday, "Through the long experience of our units, it is clear that most suicide bombers are drugged and unconscious when moving towards their target. When we caught the bomber this morning, he was just gazing, and he did not look healthy."

"He was planning to infiltrate explosives into the Kurdish areas of the city to carry out a terror attack," the security force added.

The YPG senior leadership said in a statement on Wednesday, “Our anti-terror YPG forces have conducted a successful operation in Al-Nashwa neighborhood of Hasaka city, arresting a terrorist on a motorcycle with two magnet mines. He was moving towards the Kurdish neighborhoods when units of our forces caught him."

On 30 May 2015, IS militants launched an offensive on the Syrian government-held portion of Al-Hasakah city. Although the Kurdish YPG forces initially stayed out of the conflict, they eventually joined the conflict on 5 June.

On 8 June 2015, IS was pushed back from Al-Hasakah city and on July 25 Kurdish forces and their Syriac allies seized Al-Nashwa neighborhood of Hasaka.