Syria's government on Tuesday said its forces killed the leader of a cell linked to the ISIL terror group and arrested eight of its members believed to be behind a deadly attack on security personnel last week.
ISIL claimed responsibility for Sunday's shooting, which authorities had said killed four Syrian security personnel on patrol on the Maaret al-Numan road in northwest Idlib province.
Security forces "arrested a terrorist cell affiliated with Daesh" (ISIL) that carried out attacks "targeting security and military patrols in the Idlib and Aleppo provinces", an interior ministry statement said.
"The operation resulted in the arrest of all eight members of the cell, and the ninth member, the cell leader, was neutralised," it added.
"During the investigations, those arrested admitted their responsibility for carrying out three terrorist attacks, including targeting a road security patrol in Maaret al-Numan," it said, adding that weapons and explosive belts were among the items seized.
Sunday's attack came a day after an assault on a joint U.S.-Syrian patrol in Palmyra in central Syria killed two American soldiers and a translator.
Washington and Damascus blamed ISIL for the attack, though it has not claimed responsibility.
Syria's new authorities are trying to stabilise the country after more than 13 years of civil war.
The Idlib region was a bastion of rebel and jihadist groups including foreign fighters before Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December last year in a lightning offensive.
A U.S.-led coalition has at times carried out strikes on the Idlib region, usually saying it is targeting ISIL officials.
The new authorities have announced operations against ISIL, including one launched on Sunday alongside the coalition to target "sleeper cells" in the desert following the Palmyra attack.
ISIL once controlled swathes of Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.
Its fighters still maintain a presence in the country, particularly in its vast desert.
