In Joint Raid, Kurdish Forces Seize ISIS Militant in Syria 

Smoke plumes rise from gas flaring at oil wells in the countryside near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey on December 18, 2022. (AFP)
Smoke plumes rise from gas flaring at oil wells in the countryside near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey on December 18, 2022. (AFP)
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In Joint Raid, Kurdish Forces Seize ISIS Militant in Syria 

Smoke plumes rise from gas flaring at oil wells in the countryside near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey on December 18, 2022. (AFP)
Smoke plumes rise from gas flaring at oil wells in the countryside near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey on December 18, 2022. (AFP)

A Kurdish-led group in Syria said Monday that its fighters alongside US forces have arrested a wanted militant with the ISIS group that continues to stage attacks in the region. 

There are some 900 US troops in Syria supporting Kurdish-led forces in the fight against the militant group. 

The Syrian Democratic Forces said its fighters led a raid on the home of an unnamed ISIS leader on Dec. 16 in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor. The group's statement claimed the arrested man managed militant cells in the region. 

The SDF shared a photo purporting to show evidence they confiscated during the raid, including two cellphones, a dozen SIM cards, an internet router, a Syrian-issued identity document and a pistol with three magazines. 

The SDF added that this was the fifth such raid over the past two weeks. 

They have frequently targeted the militants mostly in parts of northeastern Syria under Kurdish control. On Dec. 11, a US helicopter raid in eastern Syria killed two ISIS militants. 

Syria has been mired in a bloody civil war since 2011 that has drawn in regional and global powers. Syrian President Bashar Assad has mostly regained control of the country, but parts of its north remain under the control of rebels, as well as Turkish and Syrian Kurdish forces. 

Türkiye strongly opposes the presence of the Syrian Kurdish groups along its border that it blames for attacks within its territory. A series of Turkish airstrikes in the area earlier this month temporarily halted US-Kurdish patrols and raised concerns that cross border tensions would hinder the fight against ISIS. 

On Nov. 30, ISIS announced that leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi was killed in battle. The US said al-Qurayshi was killed in an operation conducted by Syrian opposition forces in the southern city of Daraa. 



6 Killed in Israeli Drone Strike in Lebanon Near Eastern Border with Syria

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP)
Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP)
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6 Killed in Israeli Drone Strike in Lebanon Near Eastern Border with Syria

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP)
Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil during Israeli bombardment. (AFP)

Six people were killed and two injured in Lebanon on Saturday in an Israeli drone strike in the area of Janata near the eastern border with Syria, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck “Hezbollah operatives” who “were operating in a strategic weapons manufacturing and storage site” belonging to the group.

Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes on what it says are Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon since the implementation of a ceasefire agreement in late November that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

The ceasefire document stipulates that both Israel and Lebanon maintain the right to act in “self defense” but does not define what qualifies as self defense.

The original 60-day deadline for implementing the terms of the ceasefire agreement expired in late January, but Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend it until Feb. 18.