ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Thursday they had dismantled two Islamic State (ISIS) “terrorist cells” and arrested several of the group’s militants in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province, with the support of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

In a statement, the SDF said its “commando” units, in coordination with Coalition forces, conducted “two precise security operations” in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.

The first operation, conducted in the village of al-Bariha in the al-Busayrah area, resulted in the arrest of an ISIS member "proven to be involved in attacks against our forces and civilians," according to the SDF. Weapons and ammunition were also seized during the raid.

In a second operation, also in the al-Busayrah area, SDF units “dismantled another ISIS terrorist cell and arrested two of its members.” The captured individuals were reportedly “responsible for several terrorist attacks targeting our forces, security personnel, and civilians in the region,” the SDF said.

The Kurdish-led forces reaffirmed their commitment to continued cooperation with the Global Coalition, aiming to "eradicate the terrorist organization from its roots, eliminate its financial and ideological sources, and prevent any terrorist activity that threatens the region’s security and stability."

These developments come amid rising concerns about ISIS’s resurgence.

In late September, the SDF reported that ISIS had carried out more than 153 attacks in areas under Kurdish control in northern and eastern Syria since the early December ouster of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.

“Between the fall of the [Assad-led] Baath regime [on December 8, 2024] and September 20, 2025, ISIS cells carried out 153 attacks in North and East Syria - evidence of ongoing efforts to reorganize and expand operations,” the SDF said.

Although ISIS’s so-called caliphate was dismantled in Syria in 2019, the group remains active, exploiting security vacuums - especially in contested areas between Kurdish-held territories and those controlled by Damascus. Its decentralized network of sleeper cells and militants, frequently using hit-and-run tactics against both military and civilian targets in northeast Syria (Rojava).

Since December 2024, the SDF has conducted multiple operations aimed at preventing an ISIS resurgence. These include arrests of suspected militants and repeated raids on the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province, where ISIS operatives are believed to be active.

The camp houses around 27,488 people - mostly women and children with suspected ISIS ties - remains a major concern for security forces. Most residents are Iraqi or Syrian, though many come from other countries.

The SDF - which functions as the de facto military force in Rojava - has since early December carried out numerous operations to counter any attempted comeback by ISIS.