Syrian army declares ISIS-linked camp ‘closed security zone’

Syria’s army announced Friday that a camp housing suspected relatives of Islamic State group fighters was closed to the public, a measure a military source says was meant to bolster security around the facility.

Earlier this month, the army entered the vast Al-Hol camp after the withdrawal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

In a statement, it says the area was a “closed security zone.”

Located in a desert region of Hasakeh province, Al-Hol is the largest camp for suspected ISIS relatives and is home to some 24,000 people, mostly women and children, including 6,200 foreigners.

A military source tells AFP the army’s measure aimed to control security around the camp and maintain order within it.

Some camp residents fled during the “security vacuum” between when the SDF withdrew and the army took control, two former employees of organisations working at the site told AFP last week.

In recent days, new reports emerged of attempts to flee the camp.

In the latest issue of its official al-Naba publication — translated by the SITE monitoring group — ISIS called on supporters to free women held captive in Al-Hol.

In 2014, ISIS swept across Syria and Iraq, committing massacres and forcing women and girls into sexual slavery, but backed by a US-led coalition, the Kurdish-led SDF ultimately defeated the jihadists in Syria five years later.

The SDF went on to jail thousands of suspected jihadists and detain tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.

When the Syrian army took control of the camp, most humanitarian organizations withdrew, and aid has only been trickling in since.

The Save the Children charity warns that the humanitarian situation in the camp is “rapidly deteriorating as food, water and medicines run dangerously low.”

After Syrian government forces advanced against Kurdish forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 ISIS suspects, previously held by Syrian Kurdish fighters, to Iraq.

The transfer is still underway.