SOHR: SDF says ISIS emir arrested in joint Kurdish-American operation

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)’s special forces on Tuesday arrested an alleged emir of the Islamic State (ISIS) in a series of joint operations with the US-led coalition targeting the group’s cells in northeast Syria (Rojava) amid an ongoing Turkish offensive.

“The operations resulted in arresting one of the ISIS emirs along with two other terrorists who were responsible for supplying the terrorist cells with weapons and ammunition in an attempt to target the prisons and al-Hol camp,” the SDF said in a statement, referring to a camp in northeast Syria that houses tens of thousands of ISIS suspects.

The SDF added that the operations were conducted in the towns of al-Hol and Tal Hamis as well as in Deir ez-Zor.

While the operations between the SDF and the US-led coalition against ISIS continue, the ongoing Turkish aerial campaign has caused disruption with a temporary pause days after the operation, raising fears of a potential ISIS resurgence in the area.

Turkey on November 20 launched Operation Claw-Sword targeting Kurdish positions of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the backbone of the SDF – and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region. The aerial campaign, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a prelude to a looming ground offensive in the areas that will be launched “soon.”

The operation has led to a barrage of dozens of drones and airstrikes targeting the SDF, which presents a danger to US personnel as they maintain a presence in the area.

In late November, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that a deadly Turkish drone strike against a joint Kurdish-American base that killed 2 SDF fighters put American forces in northern Syria in danger.

An overnight US helicopter raid in eastern Syria on Sunday killed two ISIS officials, CENTCOM announced, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor’s chief Rami Abdulrahman telling AFP that the SDF’s anti-terror units also assisted in the operation.

The Kurdish forces and Washington have repeatedly threatened that a Turkish ground offensive in the area would jeopardize hard-earned gains made in the years-long fight against ISIS.

ISIS swept through vast swathes of Syrian land in 2014 but was declared territorially defeated in 2019 after the SDF overran its last bastion in Baghouz.