SDF launches security operation in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) revealed that Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT) and Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) conducted a security operation against a sleeper cell of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria.
The SDF Media Center said that the operation, which was launched on May 26, resulted in the arrest of a militant of an ISIS sleeper cell and the confiscation of “weapons, ammunition, and communication devices.”
“Our SDF Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT), along with the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the International Coalition forces, conducted a joint security operation” in the village of al-Buneital east of Deir ez-Zor, according to the SDF Media Center.
As a result of the operation, an ISIS militant was arrested, as he was responsible for facilitating the work of ISIS sleeper cells in the region, supporting them, and providing weapons for them, according to the statement.
On May 21, the SDF arrested eight ISIS militants in four security operations in Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, and Manbij.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The 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, eastern Syria, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.
After Baghouz, thousands of ISIS militants 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.