Syria steps up security drive, arrests senior ISIS figure near Damascus

DAMASCUS –

Syrian authorities have intensified a sweeping security campaign against Islamic State (ISIS) cells and remnants of the former Assad regime, seeking to shore up fragile stability as the country grapples with deep security and political challenges.

The interior ministry said it had arrested a senior ISIS official in a joint operation with the US-led international coalition in the Damascus countryside, while separate raids in the coastal province of Latakia uncovered explosives and weapons linked to a cell affiliated with a former senior officer of the ousted Assad regime.

General Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, said specialised units, working with the General Intelligence Directorate and coalition forces, carried out a “precise security operation” targeting an ISIS hideout in the town of Muadamiya, south of the capital.

The raid led to the arrest of Taha al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, identified as ISIS leader in Damascus, along with several of his aides, Dalati said, according to state news agency SANA. Security forces also seized an explosive belt and military-grade weapons.

“This operation constitutes a decisive blow to the organisation and confirms the high level of readiness of our security services in confronting any threat to the security of the province and its surroundings,” Dalati said, warning that anyone involved in “the project of terrorism” or providing support to ISIS would be pursued relentlessly.

The arrest comes weeks after a December 13 attack in the central desert city of Palmyra killed two US soldiers and a US civilian, which Washington said was carried out by a lone ISIS gunman. On December 20, a war monitor reported that five ISIS members were killed in US strikes in retaliation.

It was the first such attack since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year. Syrian authorities said the attacker was a member of the security forces who was due to be dismissed over what they described as “extremist Islamist ideas.”

In a separate operation, interior ministry-linked media reported that security forces in Latakia dismantled a cell calling itself “Saraya al-Jawad,” seizing explosive devices, weapons, ammunition and military uniforms. The cell was said to be linked to Suheil al-Hassan, a former senior officer known as “the Tiger,” who played a prominent role in the Assad regime’s crackdown during the 2011-2024 uprising.

One suspect was arrested and three others were “neutralised,” with the detainee referred to counterterrorism authorities for further investigation, according to the Syrian News Channel.

Abdul Aziz al-Ahmad, head of internal security in Latakia, said operations were continuing to dismantle the cell entirely, adding that it was implicated in assassinations, field executions, bomb attacks and assaults on security and army positions, as well as plotting attacks around the New Year.

Earlier this month, Syrian authorities announced the arrest of the leader of an ISIS cell and six members in the Daraya area, near Damascus.

On November 12, Syria formally joined the US-led international coalition against ISIS, which was formed in 2014 and has carried out operations against the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq. Damascus had not previously been part of the alliance.

The stepped-up security measures underscore the challenges facing Syria’s new authorities as they seek to stabilise the country following the fall of Assad, whose family ruled Syria for more than five decades.