News Desk
ISLAMABAD/QAMISHLI: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claimed on Friday to have arrested over 100 terrorists during an eight-day-long operation against Daesh militants.
SDF launched attack last week
Last week Kurdish-led forces launched the sweep dubbed Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt, after thwarting a Daesh attempt to free fellow militants from the prison in Raqqa, the extremist group’s former Syrian stronghold.
The Syrian Kurds have been seeking to underscore their value as a partner to the West in its campaign against Daesh as NATO ally Turkiye keeps up its threats to kick off a new cross-border assault against territory under their control.
Meanwhile, the SDF officials claimed in a statement that they have arrested 154 wanted terrorists and criminals during the sweep and raid operation including 102 Daesh suspects and 27 others involved in providing logistical supplies or propaganda.
Moreover, some 55 villages and farms in the east of the Syrian-Iraqi border were also cleared during the operation, claimed SDF forces.
SDF claims
The SDF also claimed that the operation was conducted alongside troops of the US-led coalition to counter attacks on the Kurdish cities of Hasakah and Qamishli during the Christmas and New Year holidays, however, there was no immediate confirmation from the international force.
The foiled prison break in Raqqa last week was the most important Daesh operation in Syria since a successful break from Ghwayran prison in Hasakah last January, where scores of militants escaped from prison and the subsequent clashes killed hundreds.
The statement further added that three of the suspected militants detained in the past week’s sweep were implicated in providing bombs and other illegal equipment for the Ghwayran attack.
However, Daesh is a pale reflection of the organization that seized huge swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq and declared a Caliphate in 2014, it still claims a network of sleeper cells on both sides of the border that remains capable of carrying out deadly assaults.
Meanwhile last week attacks that were blamed on Daesh militants in eastern Syria killed 12 oil workers and a Kurdish fighter last week.
