DAMASCUS: On Friday, Syria’s army reported that a camp where suspected relatives of Daesh group members lived was closed to the public. A military source said this was done to improve security around the camp.
The army went into the huge Al-Hol camp earlier this month after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) left. It stated the region was a “closed security zone” in a statement on Friday. Al-Hol is the largest camp for suspected Daesh relatives and is located in a desert area of Hasakah province. It is home to some 24,000 individuals, predominantly women and children, including 6,200 foreigners.
According to a military source, the army’s action was meant to keep the camp safe and in order. Two former workers at the camp told AFP last week that some people left during the “security vacuum” between the SDF leaving and the army taking it.
There have been additional reports in the last few days of people trying to leave the camp. In the most recent edition of its official Al-Naba journal, which was translated by the SITE monitoring group, Daesh asked its followers to rescue women who are being held captive in Al-Hol.
Daesh surged over Syria and Iraq in 2014, killing many people and enslaving women and girls into sexual slavery. But five years later, the Kurdish-led SDF, with help from a US-led coalition, vanquished the jihadists in Syria.
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