Ossama Abu Awayd
On Number 30, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that their counter-terrorism units arrested a senior ISIS security leader named Ossama Abu Awayd during a special operation in the countryside of Deir Ezzor.
“Abu Awayd is one of the most prominent jihadists within ISIS. The terrorist had been in charge of security affairs in ISIS-held region across Syrian north cities such as Raqqa and Deir Ezzor,” the SDF media center said in a press release.
A spokesman for the SDF, Mustafa Bali, revealed that Abu Awayd is a close aide of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. According to Bali, the terrorist leader organized more than 40 attacks against civilians and personnel of the SDF in the last few months.
Earlier this month, the SDF’s security forces arrested a key ISIS commander, who was responsible for the assassination of prominent tribal leader Sheikh Basheer Faisal al-Huwaidi, during a similar special operation in the governorate of Raqqa.
The SDF has stepped up is security operations against ISIS cells in northeastern Syria recently. However, the terrorist group is still operating freely in the region, likely by exploiting the tension between the local Arab population and the Kurdish-dominated group.
