ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group is preparing and training its cells to launch attacks on Syria and Iraq, a spokesperson for the Kurds that control northeast Syria said Wednesday, adding that 22 members of the group were captured in May.
“ISIS is currently engaging in a process of preparing, training, & financing to launch terrorist acts targeting Syria, Iraq, and NE Syria, taking advantage of the free mobility of its cells in Syrian al-Badia & the Turkish-occupied areas,” Farhad Shami, media head for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a tweet.
The SDF fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS and territorially defeated the terror group in 2019 after the terror group swept through swathes of the country in 2014. The Kurdish force is in control of numerous detention facilities that house tens of thousands of veteran ISIS fighters.
According to the force, “12 partnered anti-ISIS operations in multiple regions” were conducted in May, which resulted “in 22 captured terrorists” and the death of an ISIS militant.
The SDF carried out partnered operations with the US-led coalition and the anti-terror units of the Kurdistan Region’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), called the Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG).
On Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the coalition and local forces in Iraq and Syria carried out 38 operations against ISIS which resulted in eight militants killed and over 30 detained.
“Although our operations are crucial in degrading the ISIS threat, they are not enough alone, so we call on the international community to effectively tackle the challenges posed by ISIS prisoners & camps in NE Syria, and support us in countering ISIS terrorism & ideology,” Shami said.
