Eurasia Press & News
These posters reportedly contain threats of murder against men and women, including accusations of failing to pay “zakat” (Islamic tax) and other charges.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor on Tuesday reported that ISIS cells in the Arab-majority Deir ez-Zor province are spreading fear among civilians by hanging posters on walls, mosques, and electricity poles.
These posters reportedly contain threats of murder against men and women, including accusations of failing to pay “zakat” (Islamic tax) and other charges in areas under control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir ez-Zor.
The activity of these cells have increased recently in areas near Tayyeb al-Fal, Al-Hariji, Al-Harijiyah, and Al-Hajnah in the northern Deir ez-zor countryside, causing fear and panic among civilians.
The east bank of the Euphrates river in Deir al-Zor is controlled by SDF-linked forces, while the west bank is controlled by Syrian government-backed forces and Iran-linked forces backed by Russia.
According to sources from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), also on March 24, gunmen believed to be of ISIS cells stuck pieces of paper on the doors of mosques in the SDF-controlled town of Theban in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
It contained messages ordering the owners of bread bakeries in the town to stop “stealing the livelihood of Muslims” and threatening them with punishment by ISIS if they did not comply.
Moreover, earlier SOHR reported that paper flyers were found stuck on a traffic sign on a road in Al-Hariji village in SDF-controlled areas in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor.
The flyers included threats by ISIS cells of punishing four people for various accusations, including “dealing with the Syrian regime, practicing witchcraft, committing heresy, and prostitution.”
The US and the SDF regularly carry out operations in northeastern Syria against ISIS sleeper cells to prevent an ISIS resurgence in the region.
Officials from both the SDF and the Coalition have issued warnings about the growing presence of ISIS cells in northeastern Syria. They have emphasized the need for sustained efforts to combat the group and prevent its resurgence in the region.
Nadine Maenza, a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center, and the President of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Secretariat, told Kurdistan 24 in an interview that the US is on the ground to ensure the complete defeat of ISIS.
“ISIS continues to be a threat in Iraq and Syria and in the last quarter alone, there were 72 attacks by ISIS (in Iraq and Syria).”
“To have US forces on the ground, to partner with the Syrian Democratic Forces, is important if we’re going to completely defeat ISIS, and it’s the Syrian Democratic Forces that are the boots on the ground and they’re doing the direct work in this partnership with the US led global coalition.”
