ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Thursday that they arrested three suspected Islamic State (ISIS) operatives in two “precise security operations” in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province.

The raids, conducted in cooperation with the US-led global coalition against ISIS, took place near the town of Busayrah in Deir ez-Zor, according to an SDF statement. 

“During the first operation … our units targeted an ISIS terrorist cell, resulting in the arrest of a terrorist proven to be involved in attacks against our forces and civilians in the area,” the Kurdish-led force said. 

The second operation led to the “dismantling of another ISIS terrorist cell and the arrest of two of its members. The detainees were responsible for several terrorist attacks targeting our forces, security personnel, and civilians in the region,” the statement added. 

ISIS took control of swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in 2014, declaring its so-called caliphate with the Iraqi city of Mosul as its capital. They were territorially defeated with assistance from the US-led coalition forces in Syria in 2019.

The jihadists have sought to exploit the instability in the region and have intensified their attacks against Kurdish-led forces since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. They primarily operate in the remote desert areas of Deir ez-Zor and Homs. 

The US-backed SDF functions as the de facto army of northeast Syria (Rojava) and currently controls one-third of the country’s overall territory.