ISIS sleeper cells coming to the surface in Idlib

Mustafa Kamel

A sleeper cell of the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has started operating in the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib.

Syrian Democratic Forces, widely known as QSD, has, meanwhile, started admitting new recruits to maintain its campaign against ISIS.

ISIS cells

ISIS sleeper cells have been present in Idlib, ever since the terrorist organization was defeated in Iraq and Syria and lost its last Syrian stronghold in Baghuz, a village in the northeastern part of Syria.

The members of these cells generally live among civilians. This is why some people find difficulty to estimate the number of the members of these cells.

A large number of ISIS terrorists also escaped to Idlib, after the sleeper cells arranged the matter for them.

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, hunts down the members of the ISIS sleeper cells in Idlib. It recently killed Mohamed al-Hussein, known to be the emir of these cells.

Tahrir al-Sham succeeded in scoring victories against the ISIS sleeper cells by tracking down their leaders and killing them. This sabotaged plans by the cells to achieve their goals in Idlib.

Over 90% of the leaders and commanders of ISIS were killed or put in jail, following the killing of ISIS caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October 2019.

QSD and the sleeper cells

QSD is admitting new recruits with the aim of moving ahead with fighting the ISIS sleeper cells in Idlib.

It said in a statement on June 8 that it is asking people to join in its ranks after lifting a curfew that was imposed in the past months because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The mainly Kurdish forces arrested dozens of ISIS militants in the past months, within their cooperation with the Global Alliance to Defeat ISIS.