Syrian man found killed in al-Hol camp

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The body of a Syrian man was found in the notorious al-Hol camp late Saturday, reported Syrian news outlets, believed to have been killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells inside the camp.

The man’s throat was slit using a sharp object, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), adding that the body was found by the Kurdish Red Crescent in Al-Hol’s third section, which only houses Syrian nationals.

A source from the camp told the local North Press Agency (NPA) that the man was a displaced Syrian citizen from Deir ez-Zor, without revealing his name.

At least 25 people have been killed in al-Hol since the start of 2022, ten of which have been of Syrian nationality, according to SOHR.

At least eight people were killed in al-Hol in June.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested droves of ISIS fighters and their families when they overran ISIS's last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Many of these people were taken to al-Hol, which is now home to around 56,000 people - mostly women and children of different nationalities.

Located in Hasaka province, al-Hol has infamously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism, with Kurdish and Iraqi authorities describing the sprawling camp as a "ticking time bomb," saying the situation in the camp is "very dangerous" with ISIS sleeper cells active in the camp.

Saeed al-Jaiashi, strategic affairs advisor at the Iraqi National Security Advisory told Rudaw’s Halabja Sadoun on Monday that Iraq has repatriated over 610 families, numbering 2600 people, from al-Hol, adding that there are currently 8,000 Iraqi families remaining in the camp.