Syria
Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish) Special Forces (HAT) secure Eid celebrations in Raqqa province, north-central Syria, on March 31, 2025. Photo: Asayish_Asayis/X
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in northeast Syria (Rojava) has announced that they have captured two Islamic State (ISIS) operatives in eastern Syria, in an operation supported by the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, the Asayish said that their special forces (also known as HAT), supported by the Global Coalition, “arrested two individuals belonging to an ISIS sleeper cell” in the northern part of Deir ez-Zor province.
The operation was carried out after “precise monitoring and tracking of the terrorist cell's movements and activities,” the statement noted. The forces raided the suspects’ location and detained them “without any casualties.”
A cache of weapons, ammunition, communication devices, and documents “proving the detainees’ involvement in terrorist activities targeting the security and stability of the region” was also seized during the operation.
The Asayish added that “preliminary investigations with the detainees are still ongoing, in preparation for their referral to the judiciary to receive fair punishment in accordance with the law.” The force reaffirmed its commitment to “monitor and dismantle the terrorist organization’s cells and prevent any attempts to destabilize security and spread chaos,” emphasizing that such efforts continue “with the support of the global coalition.”
The move comes only days after the Asayish’s affiliates from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Tuesday captured a “dangerous” ISIS commander in north-central Syria, responsible for overseeing the distribution of weapons and coordinating activity among the group’s sleeper cells.
In a statement, the SDF reported that its Military Operations Teams (TOL), with support from the US-led global coalition, “carried out a precise and comprehensive security operation in Tabqa city,” located southeast of Raqqa, to “arrest a dangerous commander of ISIS terrorist cells.”
The TOL units specialize in counterterrorism raids and special operations.
The suspected ISIS operative - Ahmad Abd al-Qader al-Moussa - was accused of “overseeing the receipt and delivery of weapons and military equipment and their distribution to [ISIS] terrorist cells,” and had been monitoring the Kurdish forces’ outposts. During the operation, a cache of weapons and hand grenades was also seized.
Although ISIS was declared territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, it has recently sought to regain ground in Syria amid the instability that followed the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December.
Both the SDF and the Asayish remain actively engaged in counterterrorism operations to prevent the reemergence of ISIS.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mistakenly reported that the operation in question was conducted in cooperation with Damascus-affiliated forces.
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