Syria
US forces patrol in the vicinity of the Hori rehabilitation centre for children of suspected Islamic State (ISIS), in the town of Tel Maaruf in Syria's northeastern Hasaka province, on December 15, 2022. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday that the Kurdish forces and the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) have arrested five suspected operatives of the group in northeast Syria (Rojava) in the last week. Joint operations between both forces were temporarily suspended due to the latest Turkish aerial offensive against Kurdish fighters.
Turkey launched an aerial offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Rojava and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region on November 20. This forced the SDF to pause anti-ISIS operations and joint patrols with the US-led coalition troops.
The SDF and the coalition have recently resumed anti-ISIS activities following a decrease in Turkish attacks.
“Since partnered operations to defeat ISIS between the US and SDF resumed on December 8, we have conducted 6 partnered operations, resulting in the detention of 5 ISIS operatives involved in planning attacks on detention facilities holding ISIS fighters and on the Al Hol camp,” said CENTCOM in a tweet on Friday.
The SDF’s counterterrorism forces have recently announced the arrest of four ISIS suspects, including an emir.
Turkey has also threatened to launch a ground operation against the SDF in the near future. However, the SDF and the US officials have repeatedly warned that a Turkish ground offensive in the area would jeopardize hard-earned gains made in the years-long fight against ISIS.
ISIS swept through vast swathes of Syrian land in 2014 but was declared territorially defeated in 2019 after the SDF overran its last bastion in Baghouz.
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