SDF arrests ISIS bomb-maker in Syria's Raqqa

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Thursday that they have arrested several members of the Islamic State (ISIS), including an individual involved in bomb-making and multiple terrorist attacks, during a joint operation with the US-led international coalition.

In a statement, the SDF said its forces carried out a “successful security operation” in the village of Mashlab, near Raqqa, targeting an ISIS cell. The operation was conducted in coordination with coalition forces.

The raid led to the arrest of Khalaf Hussein Ibrahim, whom the SDF described as an ISIS operative and a member of the group’s bomb-making unit.

According to the statement, Ibrahim confessed to manufacturing and planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used against SDF and coalition forces, as well as distributing explosives to other ISIS cells.

SDF forces also seized "weapons, ammunition, communication equipment, and personal documents," during the operation.

ISIS captured large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014 but was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, following its defeat in Iraq two years earlier. Despite the loss of its self-declared caliphate, the group has continued to carry out insurgent attacks and attempts to reestablish its presence.

On Tuesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it had killed at least seven ISIS suspects and captured several others during a series of operations in Syria conducted over nine days with its local partners. The operations followed a deadly attack on US troops that Washington has attributed to ISIS.

In a year-end statement released on Wednesday, the SDF said it conducted 163 security and military operations against ISIS cells in 2025, resulting in the arrest or killing of dozens of militants, including three senior leaders.

The US-backed SDF serves as the de facto military authority in northeast Syria, also known as Rojava. The force praised the role of the US-led global coalition, calling the partnership “a major factor in enhancing the effectiveness of joint efforts against terrorism.”

The SDF was the coalition’s sole on-the-ground partner in Syria until the Syrian government joined the military alliance in November.