World News | Syrian Democratic Forces say 6 fighters killed in IS attack

QAMISLI (Syria), Dec. 26 (AP) — Islamic State militants killed six members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in an attack Monday in the city of Raqqa, which has been fighting the group. played an important role in the struggle, SDF officials said.

An IS group targeted security and military buildings in the city, killing six fighters and wounding an unknown number of others, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said in a statement.

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He added that intelligence gathered by the group “suggests serious preparations” by (Islamic State) groups.

Siamand Ali, spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, told The Associated Press that five-member teams believed to be members of an IS sleeper cell attacked Raqqa’s interior ministry checkpoints and guard points, two of them wearing explosive belts to security forces.

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In the ensuing clashes, one attacker was killed and another was arrested, he said. He said the Self-Defense Forces and Internal Security Forces were looking for the remaining attackers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor based in the UK, reported that the attack targeted an area that includes the headquarters of the SDF internal security forces, counter-terrorism units and a military intelligence complex where about 200 IS prisoners are being held. prison.

The Observatory noted that the attack was the 16th by suspected IS sleeper cells in SDF-held areas since the beginning of this month.

Also on Monday, the Observatory and the National Liberation Front, a coalition of Turkey-backed rebel groups, reported that six members of the coalition were killed in clashes with SDF and Syrian troops in the Aleppo countryside.

Abdi blamed IS’s attack in Raqqa in part on Turkey, which has carried out airstrikes against the SDF in northeastern Syria since late November and has threatened a ground operation.

Abdi said the “terrorist activities coincided with Turkey’s ongoing threat to security and stability in the region”.

Ankara blamed Kurdish groups in Syria for the deadly Nov. 13 bombing in Istanbul, but the groups have denied the allegation.

SDF troops temporarily suspended joint anti-IS patrols with the US-led coalition because of the Turkish attack, but resumed them earlier this month.

Last week, U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces had captured six Islamic State fighters in three raids in eastern Syria. Separately, the SDF said its fighters had detained an Islamic State militant who ran a cell in eastern Syria. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)