ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday announced the end of a recently-launched military operation against Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells in several areas of northeast Syria (Rojava), arresting over 100 alleged members of the group. The SDF on December 29 announced a new anti-ISIS mission dubbed Operation al-Jazeera Thunderbolt, targeting the terror group’s hotspots in northeast Syria’s al-Hol and Tal Hamis. The force later expanded the campaign to the Syria-Iraq border. The global coalition against ISIS also took part in the operation. The US-backed force said on Friday that it ended the eight-day campaign against ISIS. SDF said in a statement that the aim of the raids was to “hunt ISIS terrorist cells hiding in the desert and residential areas, and civilian farms using fake names and taking advantage of the humanitarian conditions provided by our forces and the Autonomous Administration for the displaced people fleeing from the Syrian war zones.” It added that “55 villages and farms were swept in the al-Hol, Tal Hamis, and Tal Brak, in addition to some focused targets in the three towns and large areas of the Syrian-Iraqi border. The operation achieved many tangible results.” As a result, 102 ISIS suspects, and 27 logistical suppliers and “propagators” were arrested. Twenty-five others were arrested for “looting, kidnapping, and financial extortion against the local populace.” Recently, SDF temporarily suspended anti-ISIS activities due to Turkey’s fresh aerial offensive against the force. In its Friday statement, the multi-ethnic force said that the operation was planned to take place in November “but it was postponed due to our forces’ preoccupation with countering the attacks of Turkish occupation.” ISIS activities surged following the Turkish operation. Kurdish forces have said that the group is exploiting unrest in the region. Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of SDF, the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara. Major Rachael Jeffcoat, spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), told Rudaw on December 31 that they will continue to advise and assist the SDF. The US army keeps about nearly 1,000 troops in Rojava, according to the latest data shared by Kurdish authorities with Rudaw English. ISIS controlled swathes of Syrian land in 2014 but it was territorially defeated by the SDF with aerial support from the anti-ISIS global coalition in 2019.
