Islamic State group militants seize SDF weapons depot in northern Syria

Islamic State group militants grabbed weapons belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from a depot in northern Syria’s Al-Hasakah province, The New Arab’s Arabic-language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

IS cells seized the arms dump after carrying out an attack on the SDF military point in the Al-Bawardi area in the eastern countryside of Al-Hol town at dawn on Thursday, informed sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The extremist group managed to snatch ammunition and individual weapons from the US-backed forces' depot before withdrawing.

“Groups affiliated with ISIS were able to seize a small arms depot...  the cells withdrew from the point after seizing some weapons and ammunition," a source said.

On the same day, the Asayish forces - the police force of the Kurdish-controlled region in north and east Syria - arrested around six foreign women related to IS members, following an increase in arrests within the woman’s department of the Al-Hol camp.

The camp -  in the eastern countryside of al-Hasaka - is home to around 56,000 people, mostly women and children related to IS fighters, or refugees fleeing atrocities the extremist group committed when it controlled parts of Syria and Iraq.

The SDF - the military branch of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria - played a major role in the territorial defeat of the IS group in Syria.

Over a decade of conflict in the war-torn country has left it deeply fractured, with various foreign armies and militias in control of different regions.

The war - which began in 2011 when President Bashar al-Assad’s regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters -  has killed over half a million people, mostly due to fierce regime and Russian bombardments.