Syria: Kurdish forces raid camp for IS supporters
March 28, 2021
Kurdish-led forces arrested nine people, including suspected supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group, following a raid on the sprawling al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, media reported on Sunday.
In a tweet, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) confirmed that they had made arrests, including of the IS recruiter Abu Saad al-Iraqi.
Thousands of members security forces took part in the raid after a recent spike in violence. A statement from the camp security forces called al-Hol an "ISIS epicenter," using a common acronym for the group.
Forty-seven people have been killed by IS supporters inside the camp, which is home to about 60,000 people, since the beginning of the year, according to the statement.
Al-Hol is seen by many of its inhabitants as the last vestige of IS, which seized large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
IS still influential in al-Hol
"The purpose of this SDF operation is to degrade and disrupt Daesh activities within the camp," US coalition spokesperson Wayne Marotto told the AFP news agency, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
Al-Hol is the largest camp under Kurdish control, and the UN and Kurdish authorities have made repeated calls for countries to repatriate citizens residing in the camp. So far only a few children have been allowed to return home.
The UN warned last month of documented cases of "radicalization, fundraising, training and incitement of external operations" inside the camp.
Many of the people living there are supporters or families of IS militants. Hardcore militants have widespread influence in the camp and prevent inhabitants from working with Kurdish authorities guarding it.
Militant violence continues despite defeat
The SDF and its allies declared the defeat of IS and the end of its self-proclaimed "caliphate" in March 2019 after taking back the last sliver of territory controlled by the militant Islamist group.
A ceremony earlier this week marked the two-year anniversary of the victory.
"The fall of the last patch of IS territory in northeast Syria does not mean complete defeat," the SDF said during the ceremony.
"The danger of the IS group lives on in the thousands of prisoners held in jails as well as ... their relatives detained in camps," it added.
More than 338,000 people have been killed in Syria since the government's brutal response to anti-government protests first kicked off in 2011.
Millions more have been displaced internally or have attempted to flee across the border.
ab/nm (AP, AFP)