ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) announced on Sunday they arrested 16 people accused of being members or affiliates of the Islamic State (ISIS).
The individuals were captured during a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) anti-ISIS operation in Hasaka province on Thursday.
“Our forces apprehended 16 ISIS operatives and facilitators who were involved in carrying out terrorist attacks against our forces, and those who provided facilitation and support to ISIS cells in executing these terrorist acts,” read a statement from SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami.
The SDF also seized a number of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment during the operation.
ISIS rose to power by seizing swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and was declared territorially defeated five years later. Though the group no longer controls any territory, it continues to pose a security risk carrying out kidnappings, hit-and-run attacks, and bombings on both sides of the border.
The SDF fought the lion’s share of the battle against ISIS in Syria.
On Thursday, Shami announced that Rojava’s anti-terror forces (YAT), with the help of the global coalition, captured a key ISIS operative named Husin Nawaf al-Husin in Deir ez-Zor.
Husin is accused of being responsible for ISIS operations “targeting military forces and civil institutions.”
Last year, the SDF arrested more than 350 ISIS members in areas they control.
