Syrian government, Iran affiliated sleeper cells are active eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor

After the SDF announcement of eliminating the geographical presence of ISIS in Al-Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor in March 2019, ISIS sleeper cells became active, and this prompted the SDF to carry out several sweeping operations in the area with the support of the Global Coalition.

However, in late July and early August, several assassinations of notables and tribal sheikhs were carried out in the region, in conjunction with Iran and the Damascus government moves in the region in an attempt to create an Arab Kurdish discord.

Work on spreading chaos in the region'

In this context, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Rayan Al-Shanan, told our agency: "Most of the cells in the region are affiliated with the Iranian militias, and the Syrian government."

Pointing out that the recent period witnessed intense security campaigns against ISIS mercenary cells in the region.

Al-Shanan explained that the cells associated with the security branches of the Damascus and Iranian government are targeting civil society institutions and clan leaders in the region to spread chaos.

He pointed out that Damascus and Iran and Russia aim at spreading the chaos "to show that the areas of the Syrian Democratic Forces are unstable and SDFs inability."

'SDF and the Arab clans must join hands '

These cells are not only linked with ISIS, but also with the government of Damascus and Iran in addition to Turkey and its mercenaries, which also want to create chaos in the region and target the Arab Kurdish brotherhood in it.

In this context, Thabet Hammad Al-Eid, a notable of the Shaitat clan in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, called on the SDF to intensify its security campaigns against the cells in the area.

 Al-Eid said: "We would like the security grip to be stronger than that, and join hands to establish safety in the region."

He stressed the need to hold each guilty party accountable because "failure leads to chaos by sleeper cells whose orientations and connections differed."

It is noteworthy that, since June 4 of this year, the Syrian Democratic Forces have launched a series of military campaigns to pursue sleeper cells in the region, which they called “Counter-Terrorism,” during which they managed to arrest dozens of sleeper cell members in the area, which confirmed their association with the security branches of the government Damascus, and some others in Turkey and ISIS mercenaries.

(A)

ANHA