SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.S.-backed Kurdish forces have detained 125 suspected Islamic State (ISIS) militants during an operation in northeast Syria’s al-Hol camp, according to a security official.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consisted of Kurdish and Arab fighters, launched a “Humanitarian and Security Operation” in the camp on March 28 to root out ISIS sleeper cells, who the group says has killed at least 47 people in the camp.
The camp, controlled by the SDF, holds 62,000 people from many countries, according to the United Nations.
“We captured 125 members of ISIS sleeper cells, including 20 in charge of cells and assassinations in the camp,” spokesman of Kurds’ Asayish (security) forces Ali al-Hassan said on Friday.
Hassan said at the Asayish headquarters in the town of al-Hol that several ISIS members had infiltrated the camp by pretending they were displaced civilians, according to AFP.
“Their goal was to work inside it and regroup,” Hassan told a press conference.
Kurdish authorities have warned that the camp is turning into an extremist powder keg due to ISIS militants hiding out among camp residents.
“Despite the fact that we have arrested many sleeper cell operatives in the camp, including senior officials, the danger in Al-Hol is not over yet,” AFP quoted Hassan as saying.
“The success of our operation… will not last long without international backing.”
The SDF have repeatedly called on the international community to repatriate their citizens held in northeast Syria.
In February, the U.N. rights experts urged 57 states to repatriate nearly 10,000 of their citizens held in the al-Hol camp in “sub-human” conditions without legal process.
Some 9,462 foreign women and children are among more than 64,600 people detained at al-Hol and Roj camps, run by Syrian Kurdish authorities, where the majority of residents are Iraqi and Syrian nationals.
