DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces have arrested a nine-member cell affiliated with Daesh in the southern province of Quneitra, authorities said Sunday, as a stepped-up campaign targets the militant group’s networks and supply lines.
The Internal Security Forces, working with the General Intelligence Service, detained the suspects in Khan Arnabah, the Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA.
Among those arrested was the alleged cell leader, Musab Khalil Al-Sheikh, known as “Al-Sini” — or “the Chinese” — who authorities said had previously operated with Daesh (also known as ISIS) in Damascus and its countryside, the Syrian Badia and villages in the Hauran region.
The ministry said Al-Sheikh had also been part of a group affiliated with Abu Abdulrahman Al-Iraqi, a Daesh leader who was killed in Daraa in 2022.
Preliminary investigations found that the cell had carried out tasks for Daesh including collecting weapons and transporting explosive devices and related materials, as well as other activities intended to support the group’s operations, the ministry said.
