Syrian authorities say that three ISIL fighters killed and several other prisoners during Aleppo raids.
Syrian security forces killed three ISIL fighters (ISIS) and arrested four others in Aleppo, the authorities said, the first time the interim government announced such an operation against the group of the second city of Syria.
The raids, launched by the general security department in coordination with the general intelligence service, targeted several ISIL sleeping cells operating across Aleppo, the Ministry of the Interior in Syria said on Saturday.
A security officer was killed in the operation, he said.
The forces stormed the site and seized “explosive devices, an explosive vest and a number of general security force uniforms,” the statement added.
The Syrian Observatory based in the United Kingdom for Human Rights said that the operation had taken place in the Haidariya D’Aleppo district and that the clashes also broke out in another district.
The Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, who took power in Damascus in December, has long opposed Eil. His forces fought against the group’s self -proclaimed caliphate during the Syrian war.
US President Donald Trump met Al-Sharaa this week in Saudi Arabia and described him as an “attractive guy with a very strong past”.
After the meeting, Washington announced that it would increase sanctions against Syria – a major change in policy and an increase in the transitional government of Al -Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa took power in Damascus in December after his forces overthrew Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive. Al-Sharaa cut links with Al-Qaeda in 2016.
The recent operation occurs only a few months after the Syrian authorities said they had foiled a bombing of ISIL near the Sayeda Zeinab sanctuary, a key pilgrimage site for Shiite Muslims south of Damascus.
