ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) detained a smuggler affiliated to the group during operations conducted late Wednesday, according to the coalition. “Syrian Democratic Forces and @Coalition conducted operations last night in North East Syria resulting in the detention of a Daesh smuggler. This is part of the continued efforts of the SDF to deter Daesh reconstitution and deny them safe haven,” said the coalition’s Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant in a tweet on Thursday, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. The increased military operations of Kurdish forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) against ISIS signal a surge in the group’s activities in the region. The SDF said on Monday that they had “foiled a major ISIS operation aimed at breaking 5,000 detainees out of prison in Hasakah,” adding that ISIS also located a car bomb in Deir ez-Zor but it was destroyed by the coalition forces airstrike. Several other anti-ISIS operations have taken place in SDF-controlled areas. The force, in coordination with the coalition, has confronted the militants. An SDF commander and member were killed this week in Deir ez-Zor during clashes with ISIS, reported North Press Agency. According to the latest Pentagon report on the fight against ISIS, the activities of the group “significantly” decreased from July to September 2021. Citing the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), it said “there were signs that the group is ‘poised to increase activity in the coming quarter after a period of recuperation and recovery.’” “The DIA said that ISIS moved some of its fighters during the quarter from the Syrian desert back into Iraq and northeastern Syria, which ISIS perceives to be important operating environments,” added the report. ISIS controlled swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The terrorist group was territorially defeated in Iraq and Syria in 2017 and 2019 respectively. The SDF is the main ally of the US-led coalition in the fight against ISIS on the ground in Syria. Mazloum Abdi, general commander of the SDF, told Al-Monitor this week that ISIS is active in the whole of Syria, adding that the economic crisis in the country has impacted their struggle against the group. “Its ability to regain ground is increasingly linked to economic conditions in Syria. There are way too many unemployed people. There is widespread poverty. All such factors diminish the authority of our administration. DAESH takes advantage of this,” he said. Syria has suffered from an economic crisis since the beginning of the 2011 uprising. US sanctions against the regime have affected the whole country.
