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)
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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.



Yemen Busts Attempt to Smuggle over 1.5 Million Narcotic Pills into Saudi Arabia

Officials oversee the destruction of narcotics seized during drug busts on the Yemeni-Saudi border. (Saba)
Officials oversee the destruction of narcotics seized during drug busts on the Yemeni-Saudi border. (Saba)
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Yemen Busts Attempt to Smuggle over 1.5 Million Narcotic Pills into Saudi Arabia

Officials oversee the destruction of narcotics seized during drug busts on the Yemeni-Saudi border. (Saba)
Officials oversee the destruction of narcotics seized during drug busts on the Yemeni-Saudi border. (Saba)

Yemen’s border authorities announced on Thursday that they busted an attempt to smuggle over 1.5 million narcotic pills from the Houthi-held capital Sanaa to Saudi Arabia.

Officials suspect that such large amounts of narcotics is an indication that the Captagon industry and the manufacturing of other drugs could have moved from Syria to Yemeni regions held by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

The Captagon industry had thrived for years under the now ousted regime of President Bashar al-Assad. He was overthrown by opposition factions in December. Iranian militias had used the Captagon trade to finance their operations in Syria.

Head of security at the Wadiah border crossing Omair al-Azab said the drugs were concealed inside a cooling truck.

Security forces at the crossing were suspicious of the truck and they searched it thoroughly, leading to the bust, he added.

During preliminary investigations, the truck driver confessed that the pills belonged to a smuggler in Sanaa, continued Azab.

He was tasked with delivering the illicit cargo to a person, whose identity he did not know, in the Saudi city of Sharurah.

He revealed that authorities have foiled several drug smuggling attempts in recent months. They seized a ton of cannabis, 15,000 Captagon pills, four kilograms of methamphetamine, and 27,300 other pills.

In February, over three tons of different drugs, seized during various busts, were destroyed in the presence of representatives of concerned Yemeni and Saudi authorities, he added.

Drugs smuggling gangs resort to innovative ways to conceal their illicit cargo, such as hiding them in watermelons, spare tires and the front seats of vehicles, Azab said.

Security forces at the border will remain on alert for any suspicious activity and to defend the nation, he vowed.

Attache at the Yemen Embassy in Riyadh Saleh al-Baidhani warned that such smuggling attempts may be a sign that Captagon was now being manufactured by the Houthis in Yemen.

This demands intensified border security and greater security cooperation between the legitimate Yemeni government and Saudi authorities, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He confirmed that trucks smuggling drugs were coming from areas held by the Houthis.

Baidhani slammed the drug trade that is “destroying Arab youth”.