IS makes comeback in Syria through sleeper cells
The Islamic State has stepped up its military operations through its sleeper cells east of the Euphrates River while the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces arrest a number of women part of these cells in areas under its control.
QAMISHLI, Syria — On Aug. 20, unidentified gunmen blew up Al-Salam hospital in Sheikh Hamad village, south of the town of Marqada, which is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of Hasakah in northeastern Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a British-based monitoring group, said the unidentified men were part of an Islamic State (IS) cell who planted bombs in the hospital that was leveled to the ground. No casualties were reported.
A car bomb had exploded Aug. 18 in the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria. A statement by the media center of the Kurdish security organization Asayish said a detonated booby-trapped cab that targeted Al-Sinaa high school at 8:35 a.m. killed an Asayish member and wounded two others. On the same day, IS claimed responsibility for the bombings in a statement published by its Amaq news agency.
Also on Aug. 18, an improvised explosive device (IED) caused a blast in a taxi near the Panorama roundabout south of Hasakah city. The taxi driver sustained serious injuries.
Al-Monitor met with Siban Omar, a university student who lives in the al-Arbouiya neighborhood in Qamishli where the first bomb attack took place. He said, “IS has intensified its suicide operations in most cities and towns east of the Euphrates River in conjunction with the threat of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to occupy our areas.”
