Syrian authorities have announced a large-scale military operation against Islamic State group’s militants in several areas of Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, reports Stopterror.uz with reference to the SANA agency.

During the raids, security forces managed to detain at least one militant following a shootout. The authorities also reported an ongoing operation to search for other members of the terrorist cells that managed to escape.

At the same time, according to the Syrian Ministry of Internal Affairs, "one member of security forces was killed during the clashes." In addition, weapons, explosive devices, and uniforms with insignia of the security forces were seized.

According to a source in security forces, the purpose of the raids was to eliminate ISIS "sleeper cells" in four different locations across the city. "One of the ISIS militants blew himself up and another was killed in the clashes," the source said. According to him, a total of ten people were detained.

Other local media outlets note that the operation, in addition to fighting ISIS, also targeted supporters of the previous regime who remain in the city after it came under the control of Islamist rebels last December.

Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa who previously headed one of the Al-Qaeda units, is a long standing ISIS opponent. The self-proclaimed "caliphate" was a competitor of his group during the civil war.

In January, official Damascus reported prevention of ISIS terrorist attack at the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in the suburbs of the capital city following detention of the members of terrorist cell.

Last month, ISIS terrorists carried out one of the deadliest attacks in recent memory, killing five fighters from the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s eastern regions.