Security

10 people arrested in Syria’s al-Hol camp

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported that more than 10 Syrian and Iraqi people have been arrested.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/12/22 00:45

Security forces regularly carry out anti-ISIS operations in al-Hol camp (Photo: Hawar News Agency).

Syria SDF Al-Hol Camp northeast Syria ISIS cells

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Special units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday arrested 10 people in the notorious al-Hol camp.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor reported that more than 10 Syrian and Iraqi people were arrested, including two women, for “transferring and disbursing money without having license from the administrations of the camp”.

The majority of al-Hol's residents are Iraqi refugees and displaced Syrians. However, the camp also houses many foreigners thought to have ISIS links.

General Newroz Ahmed, Commander of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), during an event on Thursday organized by the New Lines Institute and Kurdish Peace Institute, said the fight against ISIS is still ongoing. “There might be no huge military campaigns to liberate areas from ISIS as we have done in the past several years,” she added.

However, she said the SDF campaign, with the assistance of the United States, against ISIS is ongoing. One of the main things the United States can do here to ensure the stability and security and the rights of women and ethnic-religious minorities is to stop further Turkish incursions.” she added.

General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, CENTCOM Commander, told reporters–including Kurdistan 24–at a press conference on Thursday, that he is very concerned that a Turkish operation could destabilize the region and undermine the fight of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS.

“I'm very, very concerned about that because that can destabilize the region and call our SDF partners off the prisons. They have about 28 prisons across northern Syria. It caused them to pull off those and put those at risk.”

“If we remember one of the prisons in January of last year, there was a breakout of almost 4000 ISIS detainees.’

He said it could also risk security at al-Hol camp. “Anything we can do to deescalate the situation and prevent that incursion by the Turks would be important.”

He also underlined that although ISIS is territorially defeated, “the vile ideology remains uncontained and unconstrained.”

In the past two weeks, the #SDF and #Coalition have detained 9 #ISIS militants through 7 joint operations in #Deir_Ezzor and Hasakah. Joint efforts are continuously made to attack terrorist cells while safeguarding civilians and fostering stability in the region. #DefeatISIS https://t.co/4mTQYymBOa
— Combined Special Ops Joint Task Force-Levant (@SOJTF_LEVANT) December 22, 2022

The SDF has recently stepped up operations against ISIS after they were temporarily halted due to Turkish threats. From December 12-19, they have arrested four ISIS suspects in al-Shaddadi and Deir ez-Zor regions.

General Kurilla said there are roughly 10,000 ISIS fighters held in detention centers in Syria. Another 10,000 are held in Iraq, he added.

He said there are more than 25,000 children in al-Hol camp, who are in danger of being indoctrinated by ISIS. “The horrible conditions make them more susceptible to the ISIS ideology.”

General Kurilla said the US military remains focused on supporting security forces in al-Hol camp to improve conditions. “This is critical for the lasting defeat against ISIS,” he concluded.