SDF arrests two people for smuggling ISIS members between Iraq, Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Tuesday the arrest of two people accused of smuggling Islamic State (ISIS) members between Iraq and Syria, just days after the SDF launched a new military operation against the terror group. 

“Our forces and the global coalition carried out a joint operation against a Daesh [ISIS] sleeper cell in the Tal Manikh region in al-Shaddadi on February 8, arresting two people responsible for transferring Daesh terrorists between Iraq and Syria,” read a statement from the SDF. 

It is unknown if those arrested are part of ISIS. 

The SDF on Sunday arrested an individual for smuggling ISIS-affiliated people out of the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka, northeast Syria (Rojava).

 According to a United Nations report, released on February 2, there are nearly 64,000 people in al-Hol camp. Most of the residents of the camp are children and women affiliated to ISIS.

Monday’s arrests were made three days after the SDF launched a new military operation against the terror group in Deir ez-Zor, on the Syria-Iraq border. Tens of ISIS suspects were arrested by the SDF on the first day of the operation, according to a statement from the force.  

Deir ez-Zor is a hub of ISIS activity in Syria, and has been subject to many attacks from remnants of the terror group.

ISIS seized control of swathes of land in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019. The militants, however, remain a threat on both sides of the border, carrying out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions. 

Jabar Yawar, secretary-general at the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ministry of Peshmerga, told Rudaw on Tuesday that ISIS is still a major threat in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad.