SDF announces capturing senior ISIS leader in Syria’s Raqqa
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Counter-Terrorism Units (YAT) of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Friday their forces, in cooperation with the US-led Global Coalition, managed to capture a senior leader of the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria.
This came during a security operation launched on Sep. 28 by the YAT and the Coalition. The operation resulted in the capture of “one of the key facilitators of ISIS cells, known as Mamdouh Ibrahim al-Hajji, aka Abu Youssef, who was actively involved in enabling ISIS terrorist cells in the region,” the SDF said in a statement.
Abu Youssef was hiding in the west of the city of Raqqa when he was captured.
“This cooperation between our SDF forces and the international coalition against ISIS cells improves safety in NE Syria and proves beneficial to its people,” the SDF added.
Early in September, the YAT, the Coalition, and the Sulaymaniyah-based Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) launched an operation in Raqqa which resulted in the arrest of a senior ISIS leader called Abdulghafour Taber al-Diyab, aka Abu Amir, who worked as the head (emir) of the so-called Tribes Divan and the manager of ISIS bank.