ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Sunday that they had dismantled a cell in Raqqa composed of individuals recruited to incite sedition by raising the flag of an al-Qaeda offshoot and writing inflammatory slogans across the city.
In a statement, the Asayish said they arrested “a group of individuals recruited as part of a cell aimed at undermining security and stability,” describing the activity as part of a broader “plot to incite sedition and destabilize Raqqa.”
The group reportedly carried out “acts of sabotage,” including “raising the flags of the al-Nusra Front, firing gunshots into the air, and writing inciting slogans on walls targeting [Asayish] forces and public service institutions, with the aim of spreading fear and chaos among civilians.”
The acts included “sabotage” and “raising the flags of al-Nusra Front in Raqqa” as well as “firing gunshots into the air and writing inciting slogans on walls targeting our forces and our service institutions, with the aim of stirring chaos and spreading fear among civilians.”
Of note, Nusra Front - also known as Jabhat al-Nusra - was formed in 2012 as al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. In 2016, it rebranded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) and announced a break from al-Qaeda, though ties are widely believed to have continued.
In December 2012, the United States designated the Nusra Front a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) due to its links to al-Qaeda in Iraq and its activities in Syria, a designation later expanded to include JFS.
The Asayish further noted on Sunday that the detained individuals had deliberately filmed their actions and published them with “jihadist songs taken from Islamic State (ISIS) releases,” in “an attempt to give their acts a propagandistic and inciting character and to spread terror among local residents.”
The Kurdish-led internal security forces added that “these acts were carried out in exchange for financial incentives” and “to recruit vulnerable individuals for each filmed and documented act, whether it involved a written inciting slogan, a video of gunfire, or the raising of a Nusra Front flag.”
The Asayish are affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the de facto military authority in Rojava and the main on-the-ground partner of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Syria.
Although ISIS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, the group has continued carrying out attacks and attempts to reestablish its presence. Its insurgency has notably intensified since the overthrow of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
The SDF on Wednesday reported that it had conducted 163 security and military operations against ISIS cells in 2025, resulting in the arrest or killing of dozens of militants, including three senior commanders.
These operations dismantled logistical networks, destroyed hideouts, and seized weapons and improvised explosive devices before they could be used to target civilians or public institutions, the Kurdish-led forces added.