New Assassinations in Syria’s Hol Camp

A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasakeh, northeastern Syria, April 1, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasakeh, northeastern Syria, April 1, 2019. (Reuters)
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New Assassinations in Syria’s Hol Camp

A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasakeh, northeastern Syria, April 1, 2019. (Reuters)
A general view of al-Hol displacement camp in Hasakeh, northeastern Syria, April 1, 2019. (Reuters)

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that seven assassinations were documented in the al-Hol camp in Syria’s Hasakeh province in the past two weeks.

Al-Hol is one of a half dozen displacement and refugee camps in northeastern Syria for families from ISIS-controlled areas.

Reliable sources told the Observatory that the Asayish security forces found two Iraqi brothers and one child, killed in their tent in the Hol camp.

The London-based watchdog also documented another assassination, whereby unknown gunmen killed Tuesday an Iraqi refugee working for the Asayish.

Clashes took place between members of Asayish and the gunmen who carried out the assassination. Security forces managed to arrest one of the attackers.

On Sunday, Observatory sources reported that a female Iraqi refugee was shot dead while in front of her tent.

On December 28, the monitor said another female Iraqi refugee was also killed in the camp after being shot by unidentified gunmen in front of her tent.

Three days earlier, gunmen assassinated an Iraqi refugee. Sources said the victim was a former collaborator with the Syrian Democratic Forces intelligence service.

Separately, hundreds of Qamishli residents and Asayish members attended Tuesday the funeral of Bashar Nayef Ahmed, an Asayish element, who was killed last Saturday “while performing his military duties”. There was no information about how he was killed.



Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
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Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Meets HTS Leader in Damascus

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry headquarters in the Turkish capital Ankara Friday, Dec. 13, 2024. (AP)

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, Türkiye’s foreign ministry said, without providing further details.

Photographs and footage shared by the ministry showed Fidan and Sharaa, leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which led the operation to topple Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, walking ahead of a crowded delegation before posing for photographs.

The two are also seen shaking hands, hugging, and smiling.

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Türkiye would help Syria's new administration form a state structure and draft a new constitution, adding Fidan would head to Damascus to discuss this new structure, without providing a date.

Ibrahim Kalin, the head of Türkiye’s MIT intelligence agency, also visited Damascus on Dec. 12, four days after Assad's fall.

Ankara had for years backed opposition fighters looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.

Fidan's visit comes amid fighting in northeast Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast and Ankara regards as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, Türkiye’s defense minister said Ankara believed that Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in the northeast.

Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halts support for the Kurdish fighters.

The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.