SDF, Int’l Coalition Launch Anti-ISIS Campaign in Eastern Syria

 A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
TT
20

SDF, Int’l Coalition Launch Anti-ISIS Campaign in Eastern Syria

 A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)
A resident of the city of Raqqa, northern Syria. (AFP)

The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the international coalition forces, stormed Friday al-Zarr village in Dier Ezzor countryside as helicopters searched for ISIS cells, a war monitor reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said clashes erupted between the SDF and suspects as some of them escaped to al-Kassar area in northern Deir Ezzor.

Thirteen people were arrested during the operation, nine of whom were released after investigation.

On Tuesday, SOHR activists reported that the SDF, backed by the international coalition forces, carried out a similar operation in al-Baidar village in al-Karamah district in eastern al-Raqqah countryside.

Two ISIS leaders were arrested. Later, clashes erupted between the raiding force and the wanted men, leaving an ISIS member and his son dead, and another son injured.

This coincided with ISIS retaliatory attacks following the Operation Humanity and Security, which was launched by Asayish in the overcrowded refugee camp on August 25, in light of the increase in acts of murder and violence.

The camp, located 45 km east of al-Hasakah city in northeastern Syria, is considered one of the largest refugee camps in Syria. It houses about 56,000 people, most of whom are displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees.

It also includes a special section for ISIS families, housing 10,000 people from 54 Western and Arab countries.

According to SOHR, ISIS carried out 16 retaliatory attacks, leaving 17 people dead, including two civilians, a child, and 14 members of the SDF and other military formations operating in areas run by the Autonomous Administration.



Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Syria Detains Damascus-Based Leader of Prominent Palestinian Faction

Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)
Members of the Syria's security forces deploy during an operation in the edge of the town of Sharaya, south of Damascus, Wednesday April 30, 2025. (AP)

Syria on Saturday detained a prominent Damascus-based Palestinian official whose group was close to the government of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Talal Naji, 79, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, or PFLP-GC, was detained Saturday morning shortly after he left his house with a driver and two guards, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, added that shortly after Naji was detained near his home in the Mazze neighborhood, security officials came to his home and questioned two unarmed guards for about an hour.

A Syrian government official told the AP that Naji was taken for questioning and should be released later. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The PFLP-GC became known for dramatic attacks against Israel, including the hijacking an El Al jetliner in 1968 and the machine gunning of another airliner at Zurich airport in 1969. In 1970, it planted a bomb on a Swissair jet that blew up on a flight from Zurich to Tel Aviv, killing all 47 on aboard.

Naji’s arrest comes nearly two weeks after Syrian authorities detained two members of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. The group identified the two officials arrested at the time as its leader in Syria Khaled Khaled and another senior official Yasser Zafari. The Islamic Jihad took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Under Assad, several Palestinians factions were based in Syria and some of them remained after the fall of his 54-year Assad family in December.