Syria’s government is moving to permanently shut down displacement camps that still hold thousands of civilians, including foreigners, linked to the Daesh terror group, a senior official said Friday, as Damascus expands control in the country’s northeast.
Two camps holding more than 20,000 men, women and children linked to the groups are still open in northeast Syria. One fell to Syrian government control in recent weeks, and the other is still held by the terrorist PKK's Syrian offshoot, YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Syria's army announced Friday that a camp housing suspected relatives of Daesh terrorist group fighters was closed to the public, a measure a military source said was meant to bolster security around the facility.
Earlier this month, the army entered the vast al-Hol camp after the withdrawal of YPG.
In a statement Friday, it said the area was a "closed security zone."
Located in a desert region of Hassakeh province, al-Hol is the largest camp for suspected Daesh relatives and is home to some 24,000 people, mostly women and children, including 6,200 foreigners.
A military source told 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 YPG withdrew and the army took control, two former employees of organizations 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 – Daesh called on supporters to free women held captive in al-Hol.
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 warned on Friday that the humanitarian situation in the camp was "rapidly deteriorating as food, water and medicines run dangerously low."
After Syrian government forces advanced against YPG forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 Daesh suspects, previously held by YPG, to Iraq.
The transfer is still underway.
