With the aim of aborting the terrorist organization's attempts to return to its activity
Active operations in Syria against ISIS elements
Al-Hol camp residents go out for inspection.
From the source
Al-Hol camp.
From the source
A sick girl in Al-Hol camp is carried to the camp's field hospital.
From the source
A Syrian Democratic Forces doctor takes DNA samples from camp residents.
From the source
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In the darkness of the early morning, a militia woman straightened one of her hair strands under her burqa, before holding a rifle and taking a position on the front lines with a group of anti-terrorism units, known for short as "Yat", affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
This is a mixed force of men and women who were partially trained by the US Marines, and who are now leading a large-scale "humanitarian and security" operation against ISIS sleeper cells hiding among a sea of tents in the Al-Hol area, the largest camp for ISIS family members. In northeastern Syria.
Before dawn, 5,000 heavily armed Syrian Democratic Forces (consisting of Kurdish and Arab militias allied with the international coalition against "ISIS") surrounded the camp, where there are more than 64,000 people, 67% of them are minors.
According to the United Nations, minors are crammed into an area that barely covers three square kilometers.
The Syrian Democratic Forces are responsible for detention camps in northeastern Syria, and they also supervise the "Yat" units, which operate on the front lines.
Two years have passed since the defeat of "ISIS" in Syria, and 10 years since the beginning of the civil war in that country, and the strategy has changed in combating terrorism, so the focus is now on the attack against ISIS sleeper cells.
The aim of the operation is to arrest between 500 and 1,000 of these operatives, who live inside the camp, and to confiscate the weapons and materials that the organization has used in recent months to launch attacks.
These terrorist acts raised the state of alert, fearing the return of the "ISIS" organization.
"More than 47 people have been killed this year in Al-Hol," says the spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, Keno Gabriel.
The year 2020 witnessed more than 20 murders, and victims, male and female, were subjected to shooting, stabbing, stoning, and even beheading, after death sentences issued by the Sharia courts established by ISIS inside the camp.
The "Yat" group preparing for the attack inside the camp is led by a militia woman known as "Roj", who appears to be about 30 years old.
Its unit was one of the first units to enter Al-Hol camp.
From 40 to 50 members of the group take up their positions, moving between tents, before ordering everyone out.
They remain calm, but they also keep their fingers on the trigger, ready to shoot any ISIS operative trying to shoot or blow himself up.
And the silence is broken by the sound of a child crying at times, when the women of the camp come out from behind the blankets that cover the entrances of the tents.
Within seconds, the image of Al-Hol camp turns into a black and white image, when the place is filled with a sea of women in dark robes, masks, between white tents.
Small tanks advance across the dirt road between the camp units, which also includes more than 30,000 Iraqis in the families of Iraqi "ISIS" elements. There are also 9,000 individuals who were displaced while fleeing the fighting against "ISIS".
The story of "Samira"
"Samira" waves her hand to order a large group of children to get out of the tent.
"Samira" was born in the Iraqi Anbar region, and arrived at this Syrian camp two years ago, just like 1,900 other families, who registered on the United Nations lists to return to the homeland.
"They fight every day," she explains.
By "they" means "ISIS" individuals who are trying to impose their rulings in Al-Hol, and those who refuse to obey their instructions.
ISIS extremists were able to replicate the “caliphate structure” inside al-Hawl, and they established units of the Hisbah (religious police), in addition to an executive unit of female squadrons responsible for inflicting punishment on those who fail to follow instructions. The punishment is beatings and burning tents.
The SDF unit conducts its counterterrorism operations without major incident, although there was a moment of tension when a pregnant woman dragged a prominent package under her gown.
It was neutralized quickly, and it turned out not to carry any explosives, but rather was carrying a small bag of money, jewelry and a cell phone.
Women, men and children are asked to go to the tents to record their vital data and DNA samples.
The return of activity to ISIS cells inside the prisoner camps is only one example of how this organization seeks to restore its activity in north and northeastern Syria, an area that represents 20% of the Syrian territory, and its population is estimated at 2.5 million.
Attacks were on the rise, and there were 28 acts of terrorism in February, killing 30 people, according to the Rojava Information Center, which is made up of volunteers who provide field reports.
The risk of being born again
"The danger of (ISIS) rebirth is not a media exaggeration, it is a real and justified fear," said the media official in the Syrian Democratic Forces, Siamand Ali, in his office.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, which led the ground fighting over the past five years against ISIS in Syria, are no longer facing an army, but rather countless sleeper cells.
Siamand says that each cell includes five to 10 individuals, who are spread throughout the area, carrying out separate attacks, and no longer using heavy weapons or artillery, but instead using explosive belts and light weapons, sufficient to create chaos among the population, and to continue the war of attrition. Against the Kurdish-Arab militias.
South of the Euphrates River, within an area under the control of the Syrian regular army, thousands of ISIS members (there are no official figures, but the Syrian government estimated their number a year ago to range between 2000 and 3000 people) regrouping their ranks and spread their control over the region, which is part From the Badia, it is a desert region located between Deir Ezzor, Homs and Palmyra.
"There (ISIS) imposes zakat on the local tribes to finance themselves," says Samand.
The Syrian Democratic Forces are trying to cut off the funding channels that feed this organization.
The Syrian Democratic Forces are dealing with a war of attrition waged by the "ISIS" cells against them, while at the same time they are trying to maintain security in the two camps for detaining ISIS family members, Al-Hol and Al-Roj, which include at least 66,000 women and children, in addition to monitoring the detention centers. It includes 15,000 ISIS fighters.
It does not want to leave the responsibility for combating terrorism with the local authorities alone, as the political and military spokesmen in the region insist.
"The countries to which the (ISIS) members belong must assume responsibility for their nationals, or alternatively, monitor the camps, and bring the terrorists before an international criminal court," said the YPG spokesman, Nuri Mahmoud.
These units are also part of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The "SDF" is seeking support from the international community in order to maintain its independence from the administration of the Syrian President, Bashar Al-Assad, in Damascus.
"The return of (ISIS) does not only pose a threat to the camps, but to the whole of northern Syria, and to the rest of the world," Mahmoud added, outside the gates of al-Hol.
Currently, the United States maintains between 600 and 1,000 Marines deployed in the northeast to support Kurdish forces against ISIS.
After a five-hour operation, the Syrian Democratic Forces began searching the tents in Al-Hol.
It discovered a tunnel, and confiscated military uniforms, computers, and cell phones containing ISIS materials.
Perhaps this is evidence that cells are coordinating with someone on the outside.
The militias arrested 21 people, including Abu Saad al-Iraqi, a senior ISIS official who had been wanted for a long time by camp security personnel.
However, no weapons were found.
"The (ISIS) cells have eyes and ears everywhere," says one official.
The camp residents had been warned in advance of the operations of the Syrian Democratic Forces through the "Telegram" mobile phone application, on the channels used by the organization.
Meanwhile, soldiers carrying metal detectors are combing the ground, looking for buried weapons.
• The resumption of activity by ISIS cells inside the prisoners ’camps is only one example of how this organization seeks to restore its activity in north and northeastern Syria, an area that represents 20% of the Syrian territory, and its population is estimated at 2.5 million.
• The Syrian Democratic Forces are dealing with a war of attrition waged by ISIS against them, and they are also trying to maintain security in the detention camps of the families of ISIS, al-Hol and al-Roj, which include at least 66,000 women and children, and monitoring detention facilities that include 15,000 fighters from “ ISIS ».
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