ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Saturday announced the arrest of five alleged Islamic State (ISIS) members including three “senior leaders” in a security operation in the province of Raqqa.

With the “direct support” of the US-led international coalition, the Kurdish forces conducted a “precise and high-level operation… targeting a hideout of an ISIS terrorist cell” early Saturday in northern Raqqa’s Tal al-Saman town, according to an SDF statement.

“The operation resulted in the capture of five ISIS terrorists, including three senior leaders” who were supposedly involved in attacks on SDF positions in northeast Syria (Rojava).

The SDF added that the international coalition “provided full support in terms of air cover and intelligence, key factors in achieving this important result.”

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the arrested individuals “are residents of the town of Shuheil in Deir ez-Zor,” adding that they were involved in an attack 10 days earlier that targeted two vehicles belonging to the SDF, according to its sources.

On Wednesday, the SDF held a meeting to discuss plans to confront ISIS activities in Deir ez-Zor, as well as enhanced coordination between units and military councils to counter the militant group’s cells.

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 Rojava and currently controls one-third of Syria’s overall territory.