SDF arrests 2 foreign ISIS militants wearing explosive belts

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Hajeen Military Council in Deir al-Zor arrested two foreign suspected ISIS militants who were wearing explosive belts, the SDF Press Office said on Sunday.

According to the SDF, the ISIS suspects were preparing to "commit terrorist acts in Diban town, the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor."

The SDF also said one of the detainees came from Iraq, while the other came from Turkistan. 

"Weapons, ammunition, and communications equipment were confiscated, in addition to documents proving that they had come from areas under Turkish occupation control in northern Syria," the Kurdish-led group said. 

Despite the SDF and the US-led coalition announcing the defeat of the extremist group's so-called caliphate on Mar. 23, 2019, ISIS sleeper cell attacks continue in areas liberated from the militants.

Many of these attacks occur in Syria's eastern oil-rich province of Deir al-Zor. 

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Sunday that ISIS members killed two SDF members at a checkpoint in Al-Sabha town in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zor.

ISIS launched a large-scale attack on al-Sina'a prison, which holds 3,000 to 3,500 suspected terrorists, with an explosive-laden car on Jan. 20 as detainees rioted inside.

Read More: US-led coalition says SDF cleared Hasakah prison from enemy fighters

The SDF announced on Jan. 30 that it fully recaptured al-Sina'a following the surrender of the remaining ISIS fighters there.