SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region — The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Saturday that they arrested 32 ISIS militants in Rojava (northeastern Syrian) in cooperation with the International Coalition on the third day of the ongoing Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt operation.
The operation, which was launched last week, aimed at rooting out ISIS sleeper cells in Rojava as the group had previously “escalated its terrorist attacks against the region’s population.”
launching Operation al-Jazeera Thunderbolt against ISIS terrorist cells in al-Hol and Tal Hamis
Saturday’s operation took place in the areas of Tal Hamis and al-Hol in Rojava. The 32 militants arrested in Tal Hamis included three who had been on “wanted lists,” and escaped their hideouts. Their plea for refuge in civilian houses was refused, and they were eventually arrested by the SDF.
To obtain external support from outside Rojava, the militants planned to use Tal Hamis and Tal Brak in northeastern Syria’s Hasaka province, close to the Iraq and Turkey borders.
A day earlier, with the help of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) and the International Coalition, the SDF forces arrested 52 militants sheltering in residential areas and farms.
The militants confessed to having taken part in many terrorist operations in Rojava. They planned to carry out terrorist acts on New Year’s Eve, according to an SDF investigation.
52 ISIS terrorists arrested on the second day of Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt
According to a statement from the SDF, the joint forces will continue to launch anti-ISIS operations in the towns of Tal Brak and Tal Hamis to “eliminate the remnants of ISIS terrorist cells.”
Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt: 32 terrorists arrested, and the operation expanded to the Tal Brak area
Six members of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) of the SDF were killed and several others injured when ISIS militants attacked the headquarters of the Asayish in Raqqa, the former capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate.
https://zoomnews.info/en/rojava-warns-of-isis-comeback-to-its-former-capital/
