U.S. Special Operation Forces led a Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) operation against an Islamic State cell in Syria in response to increased ISIS attacks in the region. The combined operation resulted in the capturing of an ISIS leader responsible for the recent attacks in the Deir el-Zour countryside. 

Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), the U.S.-led coalition in Syria and Iraq, released a statement by spokesman Colonel Myles Caggins on Thursday highlighting the mission’s success and announcing the capture of the unnamed ISIS leader. Yet, he didn’t add much more regarding the operation in the Deir el-Zor region.

The SDF tweeted that the operation took place in a rural area of Deir el-Zor province in the village of Azzir. CJTF-OIR supports the SDF, which is mostly comprised of Kurds from the People’s Protection Units (YPG). The SDF also includes Arabs and Syrian Christians in its multi-ethnic force. 

In the initial assault, coalition forces inserted by helicopters and then troops stormed a house. Two ISIS fighters blew themselves up to avoid being captured while an Iraqi ISIS fighter was arrested according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, (SOHR).