ALHOL CAMP, JAN 21: Syria’s army on Wednesday entered the vast Al-Hol camp that houses relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists after Kurdish forces withdrew from the site, said an AFP journalist at the scene.
The government announced a new ceasefire with the Kurds on Tuesday after taking swathes of north and east Syria that had long been under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The United States, which has long headed an international coalition and backed the Kurds against IS, said the purpose of its alliance with the SDF had largely ended years after they defeated the jihadists.
Now, the United States was backing Syria’s new Islamist authorities who are seeking to extend their control across the country after years of civil war.
Thousands of former jihadists, including many Westerners, have been held in seven Kurdish-run prisons in north and east Syria, while tens of thousands of their suspected family members live in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj camps.
At Al-Hol, the AFP correspondent saw soldiers open the camp’s metal gate and enter, while others stood guard.
The camp in a desert region of Hasakeh province holds around 24,000 people, including some 6,200 women and children from around 40 nationalities.
The defence ministry said Tuesday it was ready to take responsibility for Al-Hol camp “and all IS prisoners” after Kurdish forces said they had been “compelled to withdraw” from the site to defend cities in Syria’s north, before the truce was announced.
