Homeland Security Network Blog
ISIS Continues Attacks In Syria Despite Counterterrorism Operations By US-Backed Forces
Kurdistan 24
ISIS Continues Attacks In Syria Despite Counterterrorism Operations By US-Backed Forces
The latest arrests, including senior ISIS figures, come as the Kurdish-led SDF steps up operations against the terrorist organization.
by Wladimir van Wilgenburg
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Sunday arrested nine suspects affiliated with the so-called Islamic State, as the terrorist group continues attacks in northeast Syria, especially in the Arab majority Deir al-Zor province.
The SDF's Coordination and Military Operations Center on Sunday said on Twitter that SDF special forces units had in a raid arrested nine Islamic State suspects, including senior leaders (emirs) in the Deir al-Zor countryside.
The cell was suspected of carrying out assassinations, planting improvised explosive device (IEDs) and smuggling weapons.
Although the SDF and the US-led 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.
US-backed fighters recently stepped up operations against the Islamic State in response to several assassinations, which the terrorist organization is thought to have conducted.
Open-source researcher Caki Akyuz told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday that Islamic State activity continues in northeast Syria despite repeated operations by the US-backed, Kurdish-led SDF.
“ISIS is able to move freely back and forth over the Iraqi border,” he said. The group “still has sympathizers in these areas and ISIS ideology is still very much rooted in society.”
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