The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Tuesday the death of five of their fighters in two attacks carried out by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria. "Five of our fighters have fallen as martyrs and others have been injured repelling two terrorist attacks on a military position of our forces," in two localities, stated the SDF, the armed wing of the Kurdish autonomous administration.

The SDF, reporting a series of "terrorist operations carried out by IS in the Deir Ezzor region," announced they have reinforced "security measures and patrols in the area, with the upsurge of sleeper cell activities."

The ultraradical group had seized vast territories in Syria and Iraq, proclaiming a "caliphate" in 2014 where it imposed a reign of terror, before being territorially defeated in 2019 by the SDF, aided by an international coalition led by the U.S.

The fighters entrenched in the vast Syrian desert have continued, however, to carry out bloody attacks, particularly against civilians.

Since the fall of deposed president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, the frequency of the group's attacks has decreased in the areas controlled by the new Islamist authorities, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, unlike the areas controlled by the Kurds in the east and northeast.

During his first visit to Baghdad in March, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani assured that Syria was ready to "strengthen cooperation with Iraq" to fight IS on their common border, which stretches more than 600 kilometers.

After the fall of Assad, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed a bilateral agreement on March 11 aimed at integrating the institutions of the Kurdish autonomous administration into the Syrian state. However, they rejected the constitutional declaration adopted by Damascus, which grants full powers to Sharaa, considering that it does not reflect Syria's diversity.