Al-Hol security operation continues, more ISIS suspects arrested

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish security forces in northeast Syria (Rojava) announced on Wednesday the arrest of an additional 26 suspects of the Islamic State (ISIS) in an ongoing operation in the notorious al-Hol camp.

Internal security forces (Asayish), in cooperation with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the global coalition, launched Operation Security and Humanity on Thursday targeting sleeper cells of the Islamic State (ISIS) in al-Hol, a camp infamously known for the presence of ISIS members.

Fifteen ISIS suspects were arrested and three tents used by the terror group as courts and indoctrination facilities were dismantled on the operation's sixth day on Tuesday, according to Asayish. 

The force further said it had arrested 11 suspected ISIS members in the camp the day after, bringing the number of ISIS suspects arrested at the camp since the start of the operation to 136.

The US-led Coalition's Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF-Levant) commended the Asayish for taking efforts to rid the camp of ISIS elements.

 

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

Droves of ISIS fighters were taken to the camp by SDF after the Kurdish-led force overran the terror group's last stronghold in Syria in 2019. The facility is now home to 56,000 people - mostly women and children of different nationalities while Iraqis make up the bulk of the camp's population.