SDF leader warns of ISIS sleeper cells in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – A commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor, said on Monday that “ISIS no longer controls the ground, but it still targets the areas of northeast Syria through its sleeper cells.”
The SDF-held areas in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor occasionally witness assassinations of tribal sheikhs, civil workers and military forces’ members.
“There are many big challenges that we will face due to the military situation in the region,” said Luqman Khalil, an SDF commander.
In an exclusive interview with North Press on the margin of the annual meeting of the SDF in the city of Hasakah yesterday, Khalil said that “the military councils of the SDF will begin to organize their forces better in order to face these challenges.”
“On the top of these councils’ priorities is restoring the occupied areas of Afrin, Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad,” he added.
Khalil believed that ISIS sleeper cells receive support from the Turkish state with the aim of destabilizing the region, especially since northeastern Syria’s areas witnessed improvement at all levels.
Yesterday, Paul T. Calvert, the United States Army lieutenant general who serves as the Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR), said that “ISIS was militarily defeated, and there is no longer an ISIS caliphate, but its members are still active in the region.”
“The Global Coalition supports the SDF that are 100% fighting ISIS. I am here to announce the permanent partnership between the SDF and the Coalition,” he added.
The final statement of the annual SDF meeting stressed the need to remove the factor that help perpetuate ISIS through providing the Autonomous Administration with political and economic support in order to achieve a sustainable victory over the extremist organization.
In March 2018, the SDF, with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, announced the elimination of ISIS in the town of al-Baghouz, east of Deir ez-Zor, ISIS last pocket of control.