ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Syrian interior ministry announced Wednesday that its internal security forces carried out a raid in Damascus that saw one alleged Islamic State (ISIS) affiliate arrested and weapons, explosives, and suicide drones seized.

The ministry, citing Damascus internal security chief Brig. Gen. Osama Muhammad Khair Ateka, announced that "our security units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Agency, carried out a precise operation targeting a hideout affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS in the Dumar neighborhood of the city of Damascus, based on reliable intelligence information and accurate field data."

"The operation resulted in the arrest of one of the elements affiliated with the terrorist organization at the site and the seizure of explosive devices prepared for use, in addition to various weapons and ammunition, suicide drones, and explosive materials used in equipping those drones for explosive purposes," the statement continued, adding that the suspect has been referred to the relevant authorities to complete investigations ahead of prosecution.

ISIS remnants remain a salient threat in Syria, with three Americans, including two US military personnel, being killed on Saturday in an attack by an individual reportedly affiliated with the extremist group.

The lone gunman was killed at the scene.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday offered US President Donald Trump his condolences for the incident, with Trump asserting that "there will be very serious retaliation." 

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said that the attack shows the “menace” of ISIS and added that Washington “will not allow this attack on our beautiful young troops to go uncontested.”

In November, Damascus joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, becoming the 90th member state to be brought into the fold of the international initiative.

Despite such moves being received positively by Western nations, concerns have been raised regarding the presence of extremist actors in Sharaa's now-dissolved Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that spearheaded the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and comprises the bulk of Syria's post-revolutionary security forces.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in November accused "several factions of the Damascus government of cooperating with foreign ISIS-affiliated elements" after its personnel were attacked by drones in Raqqa.

According to the SDF, an analysis of the debris from one of the intercepted drones showed that it "was operated by a group of foreign militants affiliated with the ISIS terrorist organization, stationed at positions held by Damascus government-affiliated factions, directly opposite the defensive lines of the Syrian Democratic Forces."