Syria
Kurdish security forces inspect tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp amid an ongoing operation against ISIS sleeper cells on August 28, 2022. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Internal security forces (Asayish) in northeast Syria (Rojava) announced on Monday the arrest of 12 suspected members of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the notorious al-Hol camp, marking the fourth day of an ongoing security operation.
"Our forces were able to complete the combing and thorough search operations ... arresting 12 suspects, five of whom admitted affiliation with ISIS," the Asayish said in a statement.
Asayish, in cooperation with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the global coalition, launched Operation Security and Humanity on Thursday to counter ISIS sleeper cells in al-Hol camp, infamously known as a breeding ground for the terror group.
On the operation's third day, the Asayish arrested 48 suspected ISIS members, uncovered trenches used by the suspects as hideouts, and demolished 54 tents used as the site for spreading the terror group's ideology.
ISIS also used the tents as courts for handing out punishments and execution sentences.
Security forces on Saturday announced the arrest of 27 ISIS suspects in the camp during the first three days of the operation.
The SDF arrested swarms 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 there.
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