ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Thursday the capture of four Islamic State (ISIS) operatives in Hasaka province, claiming to have thwarted planned terrorist attacks.
“The dismantled terrorist cell had been gathering intelligence on our forces’ positions and base,” read an announcement from the SDF, adding that they had seized explosive devices “planned to use in terrorist attacks against military checkpoints and civilian infrastructure.”
The four militants, including a woman, were apprehended on August 14. They are from Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor provinces.
ISIS, which declared a so-called “caliphate” in 2014 after seizing vast territories in Iraq and Syria, no longer controls any land but remains a security threat through kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings.
The Kurdish-led and US-backed SDF, which controls Rojava, continues to conduct operations against the group.
The 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.
In July, the SDF reported that they have captured and killed over 240 ISIS members in Rojava since January, amid an increase in jihadist attacks in SDF and regime-held areas.
