The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) “with the support and participation of the International Coalition forces, successfully eliminated an ISIS cell of four terrorists, including two ISIS leaders in Shanina village, east of Raqqa City,” the Kurdish-led force said in a statement, adding that the operation took place on Saturday.
Counterterrorism forces killed the militants after they “ignored the call for safe surrender,” according to the SDF, and the two alleged leaders, identified as Abun Yousuf and Abu Matar, “were responsible for the assassinations in the region.”
A stash of weapons, grenades, and ammunition was also seized in the raid.
ISIS rose to power and seized swathes of Iraqi and Syrian land amid a brazen offensive in 2014, declaring a so-called “caliphate”.
Though the jihadists no longer control any territory, they continue to pose a security risk by carrying out kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings, and the SDF, who control Rojava, conducts frequent operations against the group.
The Kurdish-led and US-backed SDF fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and arrested thousands of the group’s fighters along with their wives and children when they crushed ISIS territorially and took the group’s last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
The SDF has increased its anti-ISIS operations in recent weeks.
In late March, the SDF warned that ISIS still poses a threat to the world and the region as its defeat “requires dismantling its ideological breeding ground.”
“ISIS is still trying to recruit new terrorist elements, attempting to radicalize them into its ranks,” said the SDF, calling on the international community to “collaborate effectively” with its forces.
Earlier in September, the SDF and the US-led coalition captured an ISIS leader who had helped fellow militants escape from a Raqqa detention facility.
