(Reuters) -Syria has carried out nationwide pre-emptive operations targeting Islamic State cells, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Syrian security forces carried out 61 raids, with 71 people arrested and explosives and weapons seized, the spokesperson told state-run Al Ekhbariya TV.

The raids come ahead of a trip by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to Washington to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and join an anti Islamic State U.S.-led coalition.

The U.S. State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Washington is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus to help enable a security pact that the U.S. is brokering between Syria and Israel, six sources familiar with the matter previously told R

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