Iraqi refugee killed in al-Hol camp: SOHR

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An unidentified militant armed with a silenced pistol killed an Iraqi refugee in northeast Syria's notorious al-Hol camp with a silenced pistol, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Friday.

SOHR reported another incident at the sprawling facility on Tuesday, saying local authorities found a young man who was killed with a sharp object five days after he went missing. Suspected ISIS members are believed to have kidnapped the victim.

A total of nine people have been killed in al-Hol so far this month. These include four Iraqi men, one Iraqi woman, two Syrian women, an unidentified woman, and a young man. According to the Syria-based Rojava Information Center (RIC), these attacks were most likely inspired or planned by ISIS.

The majority of al-Hol's residents are Iraqis and Syrians. However, there are also many foreign residents who are believed to have ISIS links and live there with their children.

Altogether, there are about 60,000 residents in al-Hol. Local authorities have attempted to reduce pressure on the camp by repatriating Iraqis and expediting the departure of displaced Syrian families.

In May, the Iraqi government repatriated 381 Iraqi refugees from the camp to Nineveh province's Jed'dah 1 internally displaced person (IDP), according to a report of USAID.

However, thousands of Iraqi refugees are still in al-Hol due to Iraqi opposition to the return of Iraqi ISIS families to Iraq.

Read More: Hundreds of Iraqis repatriated from Syria camp: Kurdish official

USAID has said that approximately "80 percent of recently surveyed Iraqi refugees at Al Hol camp expressed a desire to return to Iraq."