"Operation retaliation for Raqqa martyrs" forces arrest 68 ISIS mercenaries

The Syrian Democratic Forces and the Internal Security Forces arrested 68 ISIS mercenaries who were sheltering in residential areas and people's farms, and also the leader of the so-called "Wilayah (province) Raqqa", during the first hours of launching the " Operation retaliation for Raqqa martyrs".

26 January, 2023 07:33

NEWSDESK

This came during a written statement issued by the Media Center of the Syrian Democratic Forces, today, that reads:

"During the first hours of Operation Retaliation for Raqqa Martyrs, the joint forces enabled by the Coalition’s airpower, arrested 68 ISIS terrorists, including the Wali (governor) of the so-called Wilayah (province) al-Raqqa, who was in charge of leading the ISIS cells including the so-called Khalid bin Al-Walid Battalion, which was responsible for the terrorist attack on the Internal Security Forces center in the al-Dariyah neighborhood on December 26. The arrested terrorists were sheltering in residential areas and people farms.

According to initial interrogations, the terrorist Atallah al-Maythan confessed to his involvement in planning and leading terrorist acts, extorting the populace to finance ISIS, and facilitating communication mechanisms between terrorist cells.

Upon the request of local notables and tribal leaders and for the second day in a row, the joint forces continued the sweep operations on the ground, searching for potential terrorist hideouts. Today’s morning, the forces started raiding the al-Karamal town, 20 km east of Raqqa city, al-Mansoura town, west of Raqqa, and the towns of Sarrin and Al-Jarniyah.

During the first run of the ongoing operations in the three mentioned areas, the joint forces arrested eight terrorists, two of whom tried to flee towards areas outside the SDF control on the other side of the Euphrates River after shooting at the joint forces. No injuries were recorded.

Yesterday night, our Syrian Democratic Forces and Internal Security Forces launched large-scale security operations and formed a joint operations room named “Operation Retaliation for Raqqa Martyrs” backed by airpower by the International Coalition, aiming at targeting the terrorist cells and their dangerous operatives, destroying channels of communication between them, uprooting their potential hideouts and drying up the enabling environment, primarily the facilitators and recruitment networks."

ANHA