ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The internal security forces (Asayish) of northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday announced the arrest of seven suspected Islamic State (ISIS) members accused of planning terrorist operations in the notorious al-Hol camp. “Our forces began preliminary investigations… which confirmed that the members of the cell were planning terrorist operations in the camp,” read the Asayish statement. Al-Hol camp in Hasakah province houses more than 40,000 people with suspected links to ISIS, most of them women and children. This number includes 21,633 Syrians and 17,022 Iraqis, according to the latest figures from the United States-led global coalition against ISIS. About another 2,000 come from other countries around the globe. The camp has been called a breeding ground for terrorism. Rojava authorities have made an effort to reduce the camp's population. On Sunday, 82 families, consisting of 346 people, left the camp heading for eastern Deir ez-Zor province, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. While family members are kept in camps, ISIS fighters are held in detention centers. In March, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) called for a “global solution” to the problem of the international ISIS fighters detained in Rojava. The SDF also warned that ISIS still poses a threat to the world and the region, as the group seeks to rebuild itself through its sleeper cells.
