Syria says it arrested leader of jihadist cell involved in killing of security personnel

Syrian authorities say they arrested a leader of a cell involved in the deaths of three security force personnel during an anti-jihadist operation in the south.

“The internal security forces of Daraa province have arrested Walid al-Fallah, one of the main leaders of the cell involved” in the deaths of the personnel in the town of Al-Sanamein in Daraa province, state news agency SANA reports.

The security force members were killed as they were attempting to arrest a member of the Islamic State (IS) group, a local government official had told AFP.

The group has been territorially defeated in Syria but maintains sleeper cells.

Interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba says the anti-jihadist operation, which saw five people arrested, “succeeded in dismantling criminal cells and others linked to IS that were coordinating with each other.”

IS used to control vast areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq before being defeated in the two countries in 2019 and 2017, respectively.

However, in Syria it continues to periodically claim attacks against government forces, particularly in the vast desert region, as well as in the north and northeast.

It had also been established in the past in Daraa province, where its leader Abu Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi was killed in October 2022 in clashes with local gunmen.

Last year, the new Syrian authorities, who overthrew long-time president Bashar al-Assad in 2024, joined the US-led international coalition against IS.