The operation, conducted with support from the US-led global coalition, “resulted in the arrest of a prominent ISIS leader,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, adding that it took place in the town of al-Shuhail.
The SDF has carried out numerous operations this year to counter what they say is a resurgence in ISIS activity targeting both their forces and civilians.
The Observatory noted that the suspect was whisked away “to a security agency for further investigation.”
Backed by the US, the SDF functions as the de facto military force in the Kurdish-majority northeast Syria (Rojava). It remains a key partner of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
ISIS and its so-called “caliphate” was declared territorially defeated in 2019, but the group has recently sought to regain ground, taking advantage of instability in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Earlier this month, the SDF announced the capture of a “dangerous” ISIS sleeper cell member in the northern Raqqa province.
In July, an SDF spokesperson told Rudaw that an estimated 2,000 ISIS militants remain active in the Syrian desert.
