Most families of foreign fighters left Syria IS-linked Al-Hol camp: sources

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Most foreign families have left northeast Syria’s Al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of Islamic State group fighters, since the departure of Kurdish forces who previously guarded it, humanitarian sources told AFP on Thursday.

Located in a desert region of Hasakeh province, Al-Hol is Syria’s largest camp for suspected IS relatives and was home to some 24,000 people, mostly women and children, including some 15,000 Syrians, several thousand Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreigners from around 40 nationalities.

Last month, the Syrian government took over the camp from the Kurdish administration which had long handled it, as the Kurds’ ceded territory and Damascus extended its control across formerly Kurdish-held areas of Syria’s north and east.

A source from a humanitarian organisation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that “since last Saturday… there are no more than 20 families in the foreigners’ annex”.

Women and children including many from Russia, the Caucasus and the Central Asian republics had lived in the high-security section of the camp separate from Syrians and Iraqis.

A second source from another humanitarian organisation, also requesting anonymity, said the foreigners’ annex was basically empty, with some foreign women moved to the main camp.

An eyewitness told AFP they saw armed men, some appearing to be foreigners, taking fully veiled women from the camp in vehicles after government forces took control.

A source from Syria’s foreign ministry told AFP that authorities were carrying out a census of the camp, without confirming if anyone escaped, adding that if they had, it was the fault of “the SDF which withdrew from the site” without properly handing it over.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on January 20 that they had been forced to withdraw from Al-Hol, while the army accused them of abandoning the site.

The interior ministry said at the time that it was taking necessary measures to maintain security after the SDF pulled out, while the army entered the camp the following day.

The first humanitarian source said “a large number of them (foreigners) were smuggled out to Idlib and to other provinces,” adding that a small number instead had joined the main camp.

Idlib was a bastion of rebel and jihadist groups, including foreigners, before an Islamist-led alliance launched offensive that toppled longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.