Coalition and SDF arrest ex-ISIS leader in Deir ez-Zor

SDF forces, with the support of Coalition helicopters, raided the man’s house in Al-Basirah city, east of Deir ez-Zor.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2023/01/03 16:15

Elite Anti-Terror Forces (HAT) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo: SDF)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday evening arrested Hafiz Al-Khabeel, a former ISIS leader and a relative of Ahmed Al-Khabeel, commander of SDF’s Deir ez-Zor Military Council, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported on Tuesday.

SDF forces, with the support of Coalition helicopters, raided the man’s house in Al-Basirah city, east of Deir ez-Zor.

Although the SDF and coalition forces announced the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells continue to pose a threat, especially in Deir ez-Zor.

The SDF also recently launched Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt on Dec. 29 in the Hasakah province, arresting dozens of ISIS suspects.