The Islamic State (ISIS) said it carried out 38 operations against what it called the “PKK militia” (a reference to the Syrian Democratic Forces/SDF) across parts of northeastern Syria over 70 days, according to statistics published in issue 517 of its weekly newspaper al-Naba on October 16.

Al-Naba said the attacks were split among three areas of what it terms “Wilayat al-Sham”: 29 in Deir ez Zor (eastern Syria), five in Raqqa (northern Syria), and four in al-Hasakah (northeastern Syria).
The group claimed the operations left 53 SDF personnel killed or wounded, including two commanders.

Claimed highlights

• On October 14, ISIS said it hit an SDF military vehicle with an IED in the town of Muhaymida (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria), damaging it, and on the same day shelled an SDF position in al-Bahra (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria) with rockets and heavy machine guns.
• In Raqqa, the group reported two separate attacks the same week: one damaged an SDF fuel tanker in the village of al-Manakhir (Raqqa countryside, northern Syria), and another near Tal al-Samn (Raqqa countryside, northern Syria) wounded two SDF members.
• Al-Naba also cited an October 18 ambush near al-Bahra that it said killed five SDF members and wounded others, and a raid the following day on a military site near the village of al-Briha/al-Bureyha (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria) that it said killed six.
• The group additionally claimed responsibility for the assassination of an SDF commander in al-Jardhi (Deir ez Zor, eastern Syria) in mid-September, accusing him of abuses against Muslims.

Al-Naba framed the recent campaign as focused on ambushes, roadside bombs, and strikes on patrols and military vehicles.

Counter-operations

SDF said on October 16 that it conducted two security raids in eastern Deir ez Zor countryside (around al-Busayrah/al-Bureyha) with International Coalition support, dismantling two ISIS cells and arresting suspects.

Earlier, on October 1, SDF said it detained three ISIS members in the town of al-Tukaihi (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria).

On September 30, SDF announced killing an ISIS leader in Darnaj (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria) and foiling an attack on a checkpoint in Abriha (Deir ez Zor countryside, eastern Syria), reporting one SDF member killed and two wounded in the clash.

SDF’s media center said on September 22 that Coalition-backed operations since late summer totaled 70, including three wide-area sweeps that led to 95 arrests, among them three “leaders.”

Separately, Coalition forces carried out two airdrop raids in al-Shuhail (Deir ez Zor, eastern Syria) on September 30 and October 2. Local sources told Enab Baladi that the first resulted in the arrest of civilians and that the town had no ISIS activity at the time, while the second did not net the wanted men, whom the sources said are linked to the Syrian government.

An SDF special-tasks unit (TOL), with Coalition support, also raided a hideout in al-Mansoura (Raqqa countryside, northern Syria), arresting two ISIS suspects identified as Abd al-Sattar Abd al-Fattah al-Mohammad (“Abu Ameera”) and his brother Mohammad Abd al-Fattah al-Mohammad (“Abu al-Bara”), both from al-Mansoura.

Expert warnings

Analysts continue to warn against downplaying ISIS’s threat in Syria. A recent Washington Institute analysis argued that, despite the group’s current weakness, dismissing its danger, or shaping near-term U.S. policy on that assumption, would be a mistake.