DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities on Thursday said forces killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group and arrested another operative in fresh operations near capital Damascus in coordination with the US-led coalition. Syrian security and intelligence forces, working in coordination with the international coalition, conducted what the interior ministry described as a &quot;precise security operation&quot; in the Damascus countryside. &quot;The operation resulted in neutralizing the terrorist Mohammad Shahada, known as &#39;Abu Omar Shaddad&#39;, who is considered one of the prominent IS leaders in Syria,&quot; it added. &quot;This operation comes as confirmation of the effectiveness of joint coordination between the national security agencies and international partners.&quot; Later Thursday, the interior ministry said security forces &quot;in joint coordination with international coalition forces&quot; arrested &quot;the leader of a terrorist cell affiliated with the Daesh (IS) organization&quot; elsewhere near Damascus, seizing weapons and ammunition. Late Wednesday, authorities said they captured Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an IS leader in the Damascus region, along with several of his men, also in a joint operation with the US-led coalition. The interior ministry also said on Thursday that security forces had arrested three members of an IS-affiliated cell in Aleppo province. A December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and an American civilian. Washington blamed the attack on a lone IS gunman in Syria&#39;s Palmyra. In retaliation, US forces conducted strikes targeting scores of IS targets in Syria. The strikes killed five members of the jihadist group, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In November, during a visit by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Washington, Syria officially joined the US-led coalition against IS. Sharaa is an Islamist ruler and a former jihadist whose group fought IS at the height of his country&#39;s civil war.

Middle East

Syrian authorities said forces killed a senior leader in the Islamic State group and arrested another operative in fresh operations near capital Damascus in coordination with the US-led coalition

Articles tagged with "Islamic State group"

Syria says kills senior IS leader, arrests operative near Damascus

Syria says kills senior IS leader, arrests operative near Damascus