ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States military confirmed on Thursday that it assisted its partners in more than 20 operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria in October.
“We are sustaining our aggressive pursuit of ISIS in Syria,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), on Wednesday during a conference marking the one-year anniversary of the fall of Bashar al-Assad, organized by the Middle East Institute (MEI).
Cooper added that in October “US forces advised, assisted, and enabled Syrian partners during more than 20 operations against ISIS, diminishing the threat of terror attacks.”
He emphasized that the US would continue to “coordinate and foster collaboration with Syrian forces, our first line of effort in aggressively pursuing ISIS.”
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) remain the key on-the-ground partner of the US-led coalition against ISIS in Syria.
Cooper’s remarks came a day after the SDF announced the capture of an ISIS emir in a raid conducted in cooperation with the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in eastern Deir ez-Zor province. Another ISIS militant was killed in a separate attack on one of the SDF’s outposts in the same region.
The SDF functions as the de facto military authority in northeast Syria, known as Rojava.
ISIS rose to power in 2014, seizing large areas of Iraq and Syria and declaring a so-called “caliphate.” While the group was declared territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, two years after its defeat in Iraq, it continues to pose security risks, particularly in Syria’s vast eastern deserts.
Last month, an SDF spokesperson told Rudaw that an estimated 2,000 ISIS militants remain active in the Syrian desert.
During the Syria conference, Admiral Cooper also noted that a “successful integration” between the SDF and Damascus could “lead to a more predictable and stable security environment.”
SDF Chief Mazloum Abdi and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed a landmark agreement on March 10 aimed at bringing all civil and military institutions in Rojava - including the SDF - under centralized state control and establishing a nationwide ceasefire.
Talks have progressed slowly as the two sides differ on fundamental issues. The SDF has pushed for integrating its forces as a unified bloc, while Damascus favors absorbing fighters individually and dispersing them across regular army units.