By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2024-10-06

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and US forces operating as part of the international coalition have seen recent success in their efforts to stamp down an "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) revival in northeast Syria.

The SDF captured ISIS operative Mohammed al-Jojah (aka Abi Abboud), who is accused of smuggling children from Syria camps that house ISIS families with the aim of creating a new generation of so-called "cubs of the caliphate."

The September 23 arrest in al-Raqa city came after careful monitoring of al-Jojah, who has close ties with ISIS leaders, the SDF said in a statement.

ISIS has continually sought to recruit and groom vulnerable boys, sending them to "cubs camps" where they are imbued with its extremist ideology and receive combat training, experts have warned.

"SDF forces remain committed to dismantling ISIS cells, pursuing its terrorist operatives, and draining their resources to maintain security and stability in northern and eastern Syria," the statement said.

The SDF regularly conduct raids in areas where ISIS is active -- including al-Raqa, al-Shaddadi, al-Busayrah, al-Nashwa, al-Karamah, Sweidan, al-Hasakah, Deir Ezzor and Qamishli.

"These security operations, carried out with full support from the international coalition, have led to the arrest or killing of a significant number of terrorists," SDF officer Farhad Khoja told Al-Fassel.

Weapons, ammunition, explosives and communications devices also have been seized, he said.

Preventing an ISIS revival

US forces and the SDF on September 1 captured Khaled Ahmed al-Dandal, an ISIS facilitator who had helped five ISIS fighters escape from an al-Raqa detention facility, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

The SDF recaptured two of the escapees, Imam Abdulwahed Akhwan (Russian) and Muhammad Noh Muhammad (Libyan), while the search continues for the remaining three (one Russian and two Afghans), it said.

"A primary objective of ISIS remains to free their fighters currently held in detention and subsequently fuel an ISIS revival," CENTCOM said, noting that over 9,000 ISIS detainees remain in over 20 SDF detention facilities in Syria.

US forces, in coordination with the SDF, "will continue to mitigate threats of future escapes and to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS," it added.

ISIS has attempted to intimidate local residents "by terrorizing, threatening, kidnapping and killing them," al-Raqa resident Wael Mustafa told Al-Fassel.

The residents of northeast Syria "greatly appreciate what the SDF are doing in terms of establishing security and cracking down on ISIS," he said.

"ISIS's criminal record against civilians can't be forgotten, and everyone is now denouncing that ideology and all those linked to it," he said, adding that in areas under SDF control there is "solidarity between civilians and military personnel."