Syria: Hundreds of IS suspects arrested in SDF crackdown, local sources say

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have detained up to 200 people over the past 48 hours in eastern Syria, part of a new crackdown against Islamic State (IS) group sleeper cells.

The operation, dubbed "the Raqqa Martyrs", comes after a similar SDF crackdown last month against IS militants dubbed "Operation Al-Jazeera Thunderbolt".

More than 30 suspects were detained on Thursday during raids in the Hamarat area of eastern Raqqa province, and another 30 were arrested in various villages including Tal Othman, Al-Muwaileh, and Al-Jarniyeh, local sources told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that helicopters belonging to the US-led anti-IS coalition participated in the operation.

The SDF says IS cells were "trying to open channels of communication with other terrorist groups in Al-Rusafa," in the southwest of Raqqa province.

While the Syrian Kurdish-led coalition of fighters said only 60 IS suspects had been detained so far, the same local sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the number was in fact around 200 people.

Supported by an international coalition led by the United States, the SDF spearheaded the fight against IS in Syria and drove the group from its last stronghold in the country in 2019.

Raqqa was the de-facto capital of IS's self-proclaimed caliphate until it was captured by the SDF in 2017.

IS continues to claim attacks in the war-torn country. It said it was behind the killing of three SDF members on Wednesday in an attack on a military checkpoint east of Deir az-Zor.