DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities said on Saturday they arrested a leader of a cell involved in the deaths of three security force personnel during an anti-jihadist operation in the south.
“The internal security forces of Daraa province have arrested Walid al-Fallah, one of the main leaders of the cell involved” in the deaths of the personnel in the town of Al-Sanamein in Daraa province, state news agency SANA reported.
The security force members were killed as they were attempting to arrest a member of the Daesh group, a local government official had told AFP.
The group has been territorially defeated in Syria but maintains sleeper cells.
Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said the anti-jihadist operation, which saw five people arrested, “succeeded in dismantling criminal cells and others linked to Daesh that were coordinating with each other”.
Daesh used to control vast areas of Syria and neighbouring Iraq before being defeated in the two countries in 2019 and 2017, respectively.
However, in Syria it continues to periodically claim attacks against government forces, particularly in the vast desert region, as well as in the north and northeast.
It had also been established in the past in Daraa province, where its leader Abu Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed in October 2022 in clashes with local gunmen.
Last year, the new Syrian authorities, who overthrew president Bashar al-Assad in 2024, joined the US-led international coalition against Daesh.
Stay on top of the issues that matter to you the most.
