Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
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Global Coalition-led Operation Arrests 3 ISIS Leaders in Deir Ezzor

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US troops during a patrol in Hasakeh, Syria. (Reuters)

A security operation led by the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in the eastern countryside of Syria’s Deir Ezzor, resulted in the arrest of three ISIS commanders, announced a top Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader.

The source said that the detainees are head of Zakat, head of the Finance Diwan and commander of assassinations in Deir Ezzor.

He revealed that the forces raided the homes of the suspects in the town of Diban, and arrested them along with eight others on charges of secretly dealing with active cells affiliated with ISIS.

Official military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), Colonel Wayne Marotto announced that the coalition forces conducted a series of strikes on ISIS camps in a remote area of the Syrian Desert, or Badiya, in the early hours of October 4.

The desert is a known terrorist safe haven with a large concentration of ISIS fighters, said Marotto, adding that ISIS “uses these desolate, war-torn spaces to train fighters and plot their malicious terrorist attacks throughout the region and abroad.”

The spokesman asserted that the coalition and SDF will not stop denying terrorists these safe havens, saying it "remains the most effective force against ISIS in Syria."

Meanwhile, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, announced it will allow thousands of Syrians, including families of ISIS fighters, in al-Hol camp to leave for their areas.

The co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, the political wing of Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Riad Derar said that Syrians will leave al-Hol and only foreigners will remain.

Syrian relatives of the extremist group fighters “will be released with guarantees from their families”, Derar was quoted by AFP.

The official did not provide a date for the release and said the decision does not include Syrian extremists held by the SDF.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.