ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Saturday that one of their fighters was killed when repelling an attack by a group of Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Deir ez-Zor. A second force member died in an accident.
"Two of our fighters were martyred. One was killed while confronting an attack by ISIS terrorist cells in the Deir ez-Zor countryside. An explosive device detonated in his vehicle as he pursued remnants of the terrorist group," the SDF said in a statement.
A second member of the force was killed “in a military accident while performing his duties at his post,” it said.
Although ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, it has sought to regain ground by taking advantage of the instability that followed the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December.
The SDF and other security forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) remain actively engaged in counterterrorism operations to prevent the group’s reemergence.
The Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish) announced earlier this week it captured two ISIS operatives in Deir ez-Zor, in an operation supported by the US-led global coalition.
