Syria: Kurdish forces try to reduce influence of IS group in al-Hol camp

View of al-Hol camp, Syria, April 2, 2019. REUTERS - ALI HASHISHO

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The Syrian Democratic Forces, dominated by Kurdish militias, have launched a large-scale search operation in the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, sheltering thousands of former ISIS fighters and their families .

The aim is to restore order and security in this camp where 40 murders have been committed since the beginning of this year.

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With our correspondent in Beirut

,

Paul Khalifeh 

The al-Hol camp is a remnant of the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State group, which between 2014 and 2019 controlled a territory spanning a third of Iraq and half of Syria.

These tents, set up 13 kilometers from the Syrian-Iraqi border, shelter more than 60,000 people, fighters and families of the Islamic State group, mostly women and children.

The biggest contingents are the Iraqis and the Syrians.

But there are also 10,000 foreigners of 53 nationalities, including Europeans.

The density, promiscuity, misery and the lack of effective supervision from the administrators of the camp allows the Islamic State group to transmit its ideology to the youngest, prepared to become future soldiers of the fallen caliphate, according to a report published in February /

The Syrian authorities claim that part of the Daesh workforce in the central Badia desert are former al-Hol detainees who, once released, went to join the organization's cells rather than return to their homes. villages.

Since March 2019, more than 5,000 camp residents have been released.

The sweep operation

is being carried out by 5,000 fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces, with the support of the international coalition led by the United States.

It has already enabled about thirty suspects to be arrested.

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  • Syria

  • Terrorism

  • Kurds