ISIS activities still threaten security in northeast Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Islamic State Organization (ISIS) continues launching operations that pose threats to the security and stability of northeast Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi said in a meeting with the civil council and dignitaries of Deir ez-Zor last week.
Two days ago, ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack with heavy guns on a checkpoint run by the SDF between Diban and Tayana towns wounding members of the SDF.
The SDF issued no comments concerning this incident until the time of preparing this report.
“ISIS is defeated but its threats remain. Comparing ISIS threats in our region with that in the neighboring countries, our situation is better,” Mazloum Abdi said.
Addressing the dignitaries, Abdi added that “The SDF and the Global Coalition have a roadmap to fight ISIS. Your efforts and cooperation with the security institutions are most needed to achieve the mission.”
Recently, ISIS has ramped up assaults on headquarters and checkpoints of the SDF and assassinated officials of the Autonomous Administration, dignitaries and civilians in the east countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
Last week, ISIS also claimed responsibility for an attack with guns and rocket launchers on an SDF headquarter in the town of al-Busayrah, 35 km east of Deir ez-Zor.
Simultaneously, the SDF arrested three persons wanted on charges of attacking SDF headquarters east of Deir ez-Zor, Hajin Military Council, SDF’s official website, announced.
Lately, the SDF with the support of the US-led Global Coalition forces increased military actions against ISIS sleeper cells in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
On December 9, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, Brett McGurk said the US forces would remain in northeast Syria; as ISIS is still able to regroup and launch new attacks.
The US is committed to handle the security concerns of the countries in the region and stand by allies to defend their territories, McGurk added in his speech during a conference hosted by the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
In November, the Global Coalition stressed intentions to support the efforts of the SDF to maintain security and stability in northeast Syria.
“We will continue our partnership with the SDF. We will continue to target Daesh in Syria so it can never again threaten the region,” the spokesman of the Public Affairs of CJTF-OIR, Col, Joel Harper, told North Press on December 12.
On November 21, a delegation of the Global Coalition reiterated from the town of al-Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, east Syria, that the coalition forces will not withdraw from the areas of northeast Syria and that they are ready to confront whoever tries to destabilize the region.
On the second anniversary of ISIS’s territorial defeat, the SDF urged the international and regional powers to bear responsibility to solve the file of ISIS militants and their families held in the camps in northeast Syria.
In an earlier statement, the SDF announced that thousands of ISIS militants and their family members detained in Hawl Camp and Roj Camp still pose great danger. The US attempts to persuade other states to repatriate their citizens, who have links with ISIS, or at least prosecute them, fell on deaf ears, even by some countries participating in the Coalition.