ISIS cells prepare to attack prisons in Syria’s Hasakah – SDF commander
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – A commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Wednesday they obtained information that sleeper cells of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) were preparing to attack prisons which house ISIS members.
Sayel al-Zoba’, commander of the SDF-affiliated Shaddadi Military Council in the southern countryside of Hasakah, said ISIS sleeper cells have started to activate in the countryside of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor.
The cells benefited from the recent Turkish military escalation on northern Syria and targeted military posts of the SDF and carried out assassinations against employees of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), al-Zoba’ told North Press.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
Since November 20, 2022, Turkish air force has launched intense airstrikes on all AANES-held areas on Syrian-Turkish border in addition to bombarding areas which are more than 40 km away from the border such as the Global Coalition military base and Hawl Camp in Hasakah and the village of Makman in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
He pointed out that they managed to arrest five members of cells affiliated with Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, known as Syrian National Army (SNA), and others affiliated with ISIS, according to al-Zoba’.
The SDF commander indicated that the Turkish attacks have obstructed the security measures they used to take to protect the camps and prisons that house ISIS members, saying, “Our forces have been preoccupied with the Turkish attacks.”
On November 25, the security forces, in charge of protecting and watching the Hawl Camp, aborted an escape attempt by a group of ISIS women and minors from the camp’s Foreigner Sector after crossing the fence encircling the camp.
On November 23, Turkish warplanes targeted the vicinity of the camp with three airstrikes, claiming the lives of eight members of the SDF-affiliated security forces.
Sayel al-Zoba’ urged the guarantor states to curb the Turkish attacks.
“We are taking things so seriously. We will defend our land. We have fought terrorism for years. We will not leave this land,” he stressed.