Kurdish forces 'uncover Islamic State group cell' in Syria's Raqqa

Kurdish security forces in the Syrian city of Raqqa, announced on Sunday they had unearthed an Islamic State sleeper cell, which they alleged was planning a spate of large-scale attacks across the war-ravaged city.

Raqqa became the de facto capital of the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate until it was taken over by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia in October 2017.

A spokesperson for the Raqqa Internal Security Forces, established by the SDF, said it killed two members of an IS-linked cell and arrested five others during a raid on Saturday. 

"Special forces and explosives experts carried out a counter-operation...to confront plans which were about to be executed by a terrorist cell affiliated with mercenaries of Daesh in a neighbourhood in Raqqa city," the unit's spokesman Mohannad Ibrahim said at a news conference, as reported by Reuters.

Daesh is the Arabic term used for the Islamic State group.

The security force carried out an operation on two residential apartments where the militants were reportedly hiding out. Grenades, pistols and explosives were seized at the site, the spokesman said.

Security forces also discovered a car bomb at the site of the raid and located a large cache of arms nearby as well as buried land mines.

A spate of roadside bombings seemingly targeting SDF soldiers and officials has rocked the city of Raqqa in recent months.

In June this year, the SDF imposed a three-day curfew in the city, declaring a state of emergency due to IS militants infiltrating the city and planning a wave of attacks.