The Press Office of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) released a statement announcing the details of an operation carried out in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor province.

The statement said, “On May 13, we launched an operation against ISIS cells that had been planning to carry out a terror attack in the Shihel town of Deir ez-Zor. As part of the operation, a bomb-laden motorbike and two mines were neutralized, while two ISIS members were captured.”

On May 12, SDF completed the sweep of Wadi al-Ajij areas, northern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, within a large-scale military and security operation.

With ground and air support by the International Coalition, the operation lasted for four days accompanied by the continuous flight of international coalition aircraft that conducted missile strikes targeting specific positions used by ISIS cells in the area.

SDF forces were able to sweep parts of Wadi al-Ajeej area in order to detect smuggling routes used by Daesh to infiltrate inside north and eastern Syria, and to move terrorist cells to and from Iraq. SDF forces controlled these routes, preventing the terrorist organization from taking advantage of them.