Syrian Democratic Forces arrest ISIS agents, Turkish spies
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Shivan Salmo said on Saturday that they arrested dozens of operatives from Islamic State (ISIS) cells and spies working for Turkey in the Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor regions.
The SDF’s Media Center announced in a Friday statement that a “large-scale” military operation began last Thursday against ISIS, with the participation of the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) as well as the Internal Security Forces (Asayish).
Salmo said in a phone call with North Press that they launched the operation based on intelligence regarding the movements of ISIS cells.
He added that 45 individuals had been arrested by the third day of the operation, including people of Iraqi nationality and spies working for Turkey.
The SDF Media Center added that the operation is still ongoing, and more detailed information about the operation’s outcome will be shared to the media and public in the coming days.
On Saturday, YPG media official Siyamand Ali told North Press in a phone call that the forces participating in the operation took control of an underground tunnel from which ISIS carries out its operations, and also confiscated weapons and ammunition.