ISIS cell members arrested in Syria following attacks in Idlib and Aleppo

Syria's Interior Ministry said government troops have arrested members of an ISIS cell believed to be responsible for attacks on security and military personnel in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

The arrests followed an attack on Sunday claimed by ISIS, in which the ministry said four security personnel were killed while on patrol on the Maaret Al Numan road in Idlib.

Damascus and Washington also accused a lone gunman, who killed two US troops and an interpreter in Palmyra on Saturday, of having links with the group. ISIS has not claimed responsibility for that attack.

Pressure on Syria to quell extremists after killing of US troops

On Wednesday, the Syrian Interior Ministry said it had increased surveillance and intensified its investigations after the attack in Idlib, which led to the identification of the vehicle used by the suspects.

“Through monitoring and surveillance operations, security units were able to arrest three individuals, while another was neutralised. During interrogations, the detainees confessed to the involvement of four other individuals who participated in carrying out the terrorist operations,” the ministry said.

Syrian security troops carry out raids against ISIS in Idlib and Aleppo. Photo: Sana

Security troops said they carried out a second operation in which they arrested five additional people. During interrogation, the suspects confessed to carrying out three “terrorist operations”, the ministry said, including the attack on Maaret Al Numan, an assault on Ministry of Defence personnel in Idlib, and an operation attacking customs officers in the Zarba area of Aleppo.

Explosive belts, silencers, M-16 missiles and M4 machine guns were seized during the raids.

The Idlib region was a bastion of rebel and extremist groups, including foreign fighters, during Syria's civil war. Rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, an iteration of a militant group formerly affiliated with Al Qaeda, toppled the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad in a lightning offensive in December last year.

Syrian security troops seized explosive belts, M16 missiles and machine guns during the raids in Aleppo and Idlib, the Interior Ministry said. Photo: Sana

A US-led coalition has, at times, carried out strikes in the Idlib region, usually saying it is attacking ISIS members.

Syria's new government announced operations against the group, including one launched on Sunday alongside the coalition to target “sleeper cells” in the desert after the Palmyra attack.

ISIS controlled large areas of Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019, but it maintains a presence in the country, particularly in its vast desert regions, experts say.

Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."