Anti-ISIS coalition commander, top US official visit al-Hol camp

Karwan Faidhi Dri

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The deputy commander of the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) and a senior US official on Wednesday paid rare visits to the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka, northeast Syria (Rojava) to assess the situation of the camp, according to Kurdish forces.  

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement on Wednesday that its senior commander, Mahmoud Barkhadan, separately received UK Brigadier Gen. Karl Harris, deputy to the General Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) and Nikolas Granger, the High Representative of the US in Rojava.  

The meetings came after Harris and Granger visited al-Hol camp which holds about 56,000 people - mostly women and children affiliated to ISIS fighters. The Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish) has conducted new raids in the camp to arrest ISIS suspects. The Asayish has announced the arrest of dozens of ISIS suspects in the last six days days, including 26 on Wednesday. 

The coalition commander and the US official “assessed the current and expected threats the camp poses in light of the international inaction and lack of response to the AANES’ calls to resolve this case by urging countries to repatriate their nationals and providing adequate support to the AANES,” read the SDF statement, referring to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES/AANES), known by Kurds as Rojava administration. 

The Kurdish and US officials have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their nationals but only a few have responded positively. 



Barkhadan separately briefed both commanders and representatives about the condition of prisons holding ISIS suspects as well as their attempted prison breaks. 

The US-led Coalition's Special Operations Joint Task Force-Levant (SOJTF-Levant) on Wednesday commended in a tweet the Asayish for the raids at the al-Hol camp.

“This mission continues to strengthen #security for camp inhabitants while degrading, denying, and dissolving #ISIS networks both within the camp and throughout the region,” read the tweet. 

The SDF is the main ally of the global coalition on the ground in Rojava, receiving military support and training from it.