Abdullah Muhammad Ibrahim, known as Abu Hisham, was arrested in the village of Abu Jern in northeastern Hasaka. Ibrahim was “actively smuggling ISIS members and families out of al-Hol camp,” the SDF stated.
“The terrorist Ibrahim was involved in smuggling children known as ‘Cubs of the Caliphate’ and women affiliated with ISIS. He aimed to transport them to ISIS-controlled areas in the Syrian Badia desert and Turkish-occupied territories that harbored the ISIS key leaders,” read a statement from the SDF.
The SDF arrested thousands of ISIS fighters along with their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Many of these people have been living in camps for the past five years.
Al-Hol is the largest of these camps. It is located in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province and houses over 50,000 ISIS-linked people. The camp has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism. Residents come from around the world, but the majority are Syrian and Iraqi.
Iraq has brought nearly 9,000 of its nationals back so far, but the repatriations have sparked opposition from tribes unwilling to accept and welcome people associated with the group that committed atrocious human rights abuses and war crimes from 2014 to 2017, when it controlled vast areas of the country.
