Arrest of ISIS leader planning attacks against the region

The Syrian Democratic Forces said that its Military Operations Teams (TOLs), with support from the International Coalition, carried out a precise and well-planned security operation yesterday, Wednesday, targeting a dangerous ISIS leader.

The forces added in a statement published by the Media Center on Thursday: "The operation took place in the city of Tabqa, and after our forces gathered accurate security and intelligence information about the movements of the terrorist known as Raafat Rahmoun, who goes by the nicknames "Abu Suhaib al-Adnani" and "Abu Hussein al-Qurashi," we were able to locate his hiding place and arrest him."

The statement continued: "The arrested terrorist Raafat was the military emir of ISIS for the so-called "Al-Khair and Al-Baraka" provinces, meaning the emir of the provinces of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor. He was also the main planner of terrorist attacks in our regions. He also had direct and close contact with the emirs and senior leaders of the terrorist organization.

During the initial investigations with the terrorist Raafat, he claimed that he traveled to Lebanon in 2006 and remained there until 2009 for work. He then returned to Syria to work with terrorist groups at that time. He confessed that he joined the ranks of the terrorist ISIS organization in Idlib in 2014, where he was originally from, and worked within the ranks of the terrorist organization in the city of Hama and its countryside. He then moved to Turkey in 2018, where he met and worked with leaders of the terrorist ISIS organization. He remained in Turkey until 2020, after which he returned to Syria and settled in the city of Tabqa in 2022. He rose through the ranks of the organization and became deputy to the so-called Wali of Al-Baraka and Al-Khair, and later the military emir of those areas. He worked on... He directed terrorist cells and planned to carry out terrorist acts in North and East Syria. During his confessions, he provided extremely dangerous information, stating that he received instructions from the organization's leaders and distributed them to its affiliated cells to carry out terrorist acts during this year's Newroz celebrations. He also revealed cells linked to the organization operating in al-Jazira region and Damascus as well.

Our forces affirm that they will pursue the remnants of the terrorist organization's cells, will not be lenient with them, and will strike hard against anyone who dares to spread chaos and terrorism and destabilize the security and stability of North and East Syria.

ANHA