SDF, KRI’s CTG arrest ISIS cell in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced, on Tuesday, the dismantling of an Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cell in the northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.
The SDF Media Center said that the Counter-Terrorism Units (YAT) of the SDF dismantled an ISIS sleeper cell with the support of the US-led Global Coalition forces and the Sulaymaniyah-based Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
The center added that the joint forces arrested two members of an ISIS sleeper cell during a security operation in the town of al-Suwar in the north of Deir ez-Zor and confiscated weapons, ammunition, and communication devices in their possession.
The suspects actively participated in killings and assassinations against military forces and notables of the region in addition to smuggling “terrorist” militants, according to the center.
On May 4, the Coalition said that their forces advised and assisted the SDF in capturing a cell operator of ISIS in Deir ez-Zor.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS fighters were transferred to prisons, while their families were transferred to Hawl and Roj camps in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-held areas.