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On January 27, military and security units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began cambing the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the former capital of ISIS, in the framework of a large-scale counter-terrorism operation.
The operation was launched two days earlier with support from the United States-led coalition in response to an attack by ISIS cells in Raqqa city that claimed the lives of six of the Kurdish-led group personnel last December.
In a statement, the SDF said that a large part of al-Diriyah, one of Raqqa city largest districts, has been already cambed by its units.
Moreover, a series of raids was also carried out by SDF units in the towns of al-Karamah, Sarrin, Abu Quba’ and Hamam in the countryside of the governorate.
The group also announced that 32 members of ISIS and suspects were arrested on the second day of its operation in Raqqa. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the total number of people detained in the operation has topped 100.
“Among the detainees who were apprehended in Raqqa city are two members of the terrorist organization who facilitated its terrorist operations and covered up an element who participated in the attack on the security center in the Diriyah neighborhood late last month,” the SDF’s statement reads.
It’s worth noting that the SDF established a new operations room, dubbed “the Revenge Campaign for the Martyrs of Raqqa” to coordinate the ongoing operation.
The group claims that one of the terrorists arrested on the second day of the operation was none other than ISIS’s Wali [governor] of Raqqa.
The SDF’s counter-terrorism operation in Raqqa will likely end within a few days. Many cells of ISIS will survive the operation. Earlier this month, the group conducted a similar operation against the terrorist group’s cells in the neighboring governorate of al-Hasakah. The operation failed to end the group’s presence there.
