Anadolu Agency reported that a security source said Syrian forces dismantled an ISIS-linked cell in Aleppo province, while Manbij's Internal Security Command media office told Shafaq News the operation took place in the city.
The security source told state-run Alikhbariah TV that the General Intelligence Directorate worked with the Internal Security Forces. The source described the cell as linked to ISIS, the Islamic State group, and tied it to attacks and assassinations; those allegations remain unverified. The source did not identify particular attacks, and no figure for the cell's membership was given.
A Sept. 27 statement by the Internal Security Forces, carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), said preliminary investigations found that members of another cell had carried out five kidnappings and planned “terrorist acts targeting the security and stability of the region.” The statement said the group was active in Raqqa, Aleppo, Idlib and Homs.
The Internal Security Forces said two security personnel died and five were injured in an anti-ISIS raid in Rankous near Damascus on Oct. 22, as EconoTimes reported in its account of the operation.
