Syrian Kurdish forces arrest IS commander in eastern region

By HOGIR AL ABDO
Associated Press

RAQQA, Syria (AP) — Syrian Kurdish-led forces have captured a local commander of the Islamic State group in eastern Syria as part of an ongoing operation targeting sleeper cells in the city of Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces announced in a statement on Thursday that the head of the extremist group’s faction for Raqqa is among the 68 militants they detained. The operation started earlier this week, in response to a December attack by IS that targeted military and security buildings in Raqqa and killed at least six Syrian Kurdish fighters. IS lost all territorial control in Iraq and Syria in 2019 but militant sleeper cells persist and have since killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians.