With Coalition support, Kurdish-led SDF capture ISIS suspects in eastern Syria

The arrests came during two joint Coalition-SDF operations in the eastern countryside of Syria's Deir al-Zor province.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2021/02/13 23:04

Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that it had captured nine members of the so-called Islamic State in Deir al-Zor, with the support of the US-led Coalition to defeat the terrorist organization.

The SDF media center said that they together with the Coalition carried out two security operations in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor on Feb. 10 and 11.

"On 10th February, an operation resulted in arresting eight terrorists, and one terrorist was arrested on 11th February," the SDF said. "During the two operations, a number of weapons, ammunition and communication devices were seized," the statement added.

Although the SDF and anti-ISIS Coalition announced the territorial defeat of the Islamic State in Syria in March 2019, sleeper cell attacks persist – especially in liberated territories – in an apparent campaign to destabilize the area.

SDF fighters recently stepped up operations against the armed group in response to several recent assassinations for which it is thought the Islamic State group to be responsible.

A Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report covering the last quarter of 2020 (October 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020) said that “ISIS carried out nearly half of its attacks in Syria this quarter in Dayr az Zawr (Deir al-Zor) province, followed by more than 15 percent in Homs province and 14 percent in Hamah province.”

The report noted that the so-called Islamic State “continued to assassinate local military and civilian leaders in areas under SDF control.”

“In so doing, ISIS is attempting to exacerbate tensions among the Arab population and Kurdish authorities, and to undermine cooperation among these parties,” USCENTCOM said.

The report noted however that the SDF maintained the pace of its counter-terrorism operations and proved more capable of defending critical infrastructure in the final 2020 quarter.

Last Tuesday, the SDF also announced that they arrested two Islamic State-linked smugglers as part of ongoing efforts to disrupt human smuggling networks in Syria. The Kurdish-led forces also captured another person suspected of smuggling families of the terror group from the notorious al-Hol camp.

Despite the increased number of SDF operations, terrorist attacks, explosions and assassinations continue in Deir al-Zor. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday that two unidentified gunmen opened fire on a member of the Asayish in al-Shuhayl.

The same day, an improvised explosive device (IED) blew up under an SDF military vehicle. And, on Thursday, another group of unidentified assailants killed one SDF fighter on the road to the al-Jafrah oil field.