BEIRUT: US-backed forces said Friday they had captured a leader of Daesh in eastern Syria where the Kurdish-led fighters have been battling the extremists.
A statement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) identified the suspect as Osama Oweid Saleh and described him as “one of the most dangerous terrorists of the Daesh group.”
But Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, disputed the claim.
Abdel Rahman said Saleh was merely “a former local security official” in the eastern Deir Ezzor province.
In its statement the SDF said that Saleh “was a security official for the terrorists in Deir Ezzor and took an active part in planning and implementing more than 40 terrorist operations” for the extremist group.
It also said that he was “a security official” in other parts of Syria for Daesh, including in the former extremist bastion of Raqqa.
Saleh, it said, was ambushed by SDF fighters and captured on November 22 in the Deir Ezzor countryside.
Abdel Rahman told AFP that Saleh “could be a member of an Daesh sleeper cell.”
The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, is seeking to expel Daesh from a pocket of land in the Deir Ezzor province near the Iraq border.
The Kurdish-led forces have spearheaded the US-backed fight against Daesh in Syria.
On Monday the Observatory reported that the SDF suffered record fatalities in an assault by Daesh as holdout extremists kept up a fierce defense of their last Syrian redoubt.
It said a total of more than 200 people have been killed since around 500 Daesh fighters burst out of the fog shrouding the area in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq to launch their deadly assault last Friday.
Ninety-two of the dead were SDF fighters while at least 61 extremists and 51 civilians, mostly their relatives, also died in the violence, it said.
US-backed forces: Daesh security leader seized in Syria
US-backed forces: Daesh security leader seized in Syria
- Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, disputed the claim
- The SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, is seeking to expel Daesh from a pocket of land in the Deir Ezzor
Russian forces begin pulling out of bases in northeast Syria
- Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow
QAMISHLI, Syria: Russian forces have begun pulling out of positions in northeast Syria in an area still controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces after the group lost most of its territory in an offensive by government forces.
Associated Press journalists visited one base next to the Qamishli airport Tuesday and found it guarded by SDF fighters who said the Russians had begun moving their equipment out in recent days.
Inside what had been living quarters for the soldiers was largely empty, with scattered items left behind, including workout equipment, protein powder and some clothing.
Ahmed Ali, an SDF fighter deployed at the facility, said the Russian forces began evacuating their positions around the airport five or six days ago, withdrawing their equipment via a cargo plane.
“We don’t know if its destination was Russia or the Hmeimim air base,” he said, referring to the main Russian base on Syria’s coast. “They still have a presence in Qamishli and have been evacuating bit by bit.”
A UN humanitarian convoy from Damascus reached Qamishli on Tuesday, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“It delivered food, warm clothes and blankets, among other supplies,” he told UN reporters. “More convoys are planned in the coming days.”
Dujarric said the UN is also continuing to distribute food, bread and cash elsewhere including displacement sites.
There has been no official statement from Russia about the withdrawal of its forces from Qamishli.
Russia has built relations with the new central Syrian government in Damascus since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024 in a rebel offensive led by now-interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa — despite the fact that Moscow was a close ally of Assad.
Moscow’s scorched-earth intervention in support of Assad a decade ago turned the tide of Syria’s civil war at the time, keeping Assad in his seat. Russia didn’t try to counter the rebel offensive in late 2024 but gave asylum to Assad after he fled the country.
Despite having been on opposite sides of the battle lines during the civil war, the new rulers in Damascus have taken a pragmatic approach to relations with Moscow. Russia has retained a presence at its air and naval bases on the Syrian coast.
Al-Sharaa is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday and meet with Putin.
Fighting broke out early this month between the SDF and government forces after negotiations over a deal to merge their forces together broke down. A ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding.
After the expiration of a four-day truce Saturday, the two sides announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
Syria’s defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
