“16 Daesh terrorists captured during a raid in Dayr az Zawr province, #Syria, Jan. 1, 2020. The partner-led operation prevented an imminent attack against Coalition and partner forces,” read a tweet by the US-led coalition on Thursday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
The forces are now investigating the failed attack plot, the statement added.
Formed in September 2014, the 81-country coalition has since been assisting forces in Syria and Iraq in the fight against ISIS, which seized control swaths of both countries in summer 2014. Support is mostly provided through airstrikes on ISIS targets.
With coalition force support, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared the defeat of ISIS in Syria in March 2019 after taking control of the Deir ez-Zor province town of Baghouz, the group’s last bastion. They were also declared defeated by the Iraqi army in December 2017. However, the group is still carrying out attacks in both countries.
Rounding upon its 2019 operations in a tweet on Wednesday, the coalition described last year as “successful” after supporting Syrian and Iraqi partners in “removing over 1,700 Daesh terrorists since March.”
Over 12,000 ISIS detainees are currently being held in Iraq and Syria. Over 10,000 of them are under the control of the SDF - the only coalition partner on the ground in the fight against the jihadists in Syria.
Local security forces (Asayesh) in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) said on December 30 that they had “thwarted a large number of terrorist [ISIS] operations aimed at destabilizing security in northeastern Syria,” reported the pro-SDF North Press Agency (NPA).
Ali Hassan, spokesperson for the Asayesh, also told NPA that they “defused many motorcycles, cars, and booby trapped tanks, indicating that the cases were greater than the previous years.”
The Asayesh captured 764 ISIS suspects in 2019, Hassan added.
Turkey’s launch of Operation Peace Spring against the SDF in October has given ISIS a chance to re-group and increase its attacks in Syria, according to Kurdish officials and commanders.
The international community has also warned against possible ISIS resurgence in the face of Turkish incursion.
Hundreds of ISIS-related captives in northern Syria escaped detention facilities following the Turkish invasion in October, though the SDF says it has recaptured the majority of them.
Kurdish officials and US President Donald Trump have called on countries to repatriate their detainee nationals from SDF prisons, but few have responded to the call.
