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Syria Kurds Launch Security Sweep in ISIS Families Camp

More than thirty people were in a sweeping operation in and around the Al-Hol camp, above. (AFP)
More than thirty people were in a sweeping operation in and around the Al-Hol camp, above. (AFP)
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Syria Kurds Launch Security Sweep in ISIS Families Camp

More than thirty people were in a sweeping operation in and around the Al-Hol camp, above. (AFP)
More than thirty people were in a sweeping operation in and around the Al-Hol camp, above. (AFP)

Kurdish forces launched a security operation in a camp for suspected family members of ISIS group militants and made dozens of arrests Sunday, a war monitor and Kurdish officials said.

“More than thirty women and men have been arrested” in a sweeping anti-ISIS operation in and around the al-Hol camp, said Rami Abdul Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“The arrests are ongoing” as part of a days-long operation by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is the Kurdish regional administration’s main fighting force, the Kurdish YPG militia and a local police force, Abdul Rahman said.

Syrians and foreigners “suspected of supporting [ISIS]” have been arrested, he said.

SDF officials confirmed the operation, with one of them saying it would run at least 10 days.

The US-led coalition battling ISIS said it was providing its SDF partners with “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” support, AFP reported.

“The purpose of this SDF operation is to degrade and disrupt ISIS activities within the camp to ensure the safety and security of camp residents,” coalition spokesperson Wayne Marotto told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Al-Hol is the largest such settlement controlled by Kurdish authorities, who warn it is emerging as an extremist powder keg.

It holds almost 62,000 people, mostly women and children, including Syrians, Iraqis and thousands from Europe and Asia suspected of family ties with ISIS fighters.

The Observatory has recorded around 40 murders in al-Hol since the start of this year.

Kurdish authorities say ISIS sympathizers are behind most of the murders, while humanitarian sources have said tribal disputes could be behind some of the killings.

In a report published last month, the UN said it had documented cases of “radicalization, fundraising, training and incitement of external operations” at al-Hol.

It also warned over the fate of around 7,000 children living in a special annex designated for foreign ISIS relatives.

They are “being groomed as future [ISIS] operatives”, according to the United Nations.

Despite repeated calls by the UN and Kurdish authorities for countries to repatriate their nationals, only a limited number of people, mostly children, have been allowed to return.

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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
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Germany Says Sanctions against Syrian War Crimes Suspects Must Stay but People Need Relief

A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)
A group of young volunteers paints a mural symbolizing peace on a wall on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. (AP)

thGermany’s foreign minister said Sunday that sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for war crimes must remain in place but called for a “smart approach” to provide relief to the Syrian population after last month's overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Annalena Baerbock spoke to reporters after arriving in Saudi Arabia for a conference on Syria's future attended by top European and Middle Eastern diplomats.

Germany is one of several countries that imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. Those penalties could hinder Syria's recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war that killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced half the prewar population of 23 million, according to The AP.

“Sanctions against Assad’s henchmen who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. “But Germany proposes to take a smart approach to sanctions, providing rapid relief for the Syrian population. Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power.”

Baerbock announced an additional 50 million euros ($51.2 million) in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care, highlighting the ongoing struggles of millions of Syrians displaced by the war.

The sanctions imposed target not only senior government officials, but also the country's oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of entities and individuals linked to the Assad government, crippling the wider economy.

There are exemptions when it comes to humanitarian aid, but relief organizations have said that overcompliance by financial institutions hinders their operations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country, which was a strong supporter of the Syrian opposition to Assad, would try to aid Syria in normalizing ties with the international community.

He said it was important to establish “a balance between the expectations of the international community and the realities faced by the new administration in Syria.”

He pledged Turkish support to the new government, especially in combating threats from the ISIS group. “As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part to ease the difficult path ahead for the Syrian people,” he said in comments carried by state-run Anadolu Agency.

The United States has eased some restrictions Last week, the United States eased some of its restrictions on Syria, with the US Treasury issuing a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The US has also dropped a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmad al-Sharaa, a Syrian opposition leader formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month. Al-Sharaa was a former senior al-Qaeda militant who broke with the group years ago and has pledged an inclusive Syria that respects the rights of religious minorities.

The opposition factions led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule.

Much of the world severed ties with Assad and imposed sanctions on his government — and its Russian and Iranian allies — over alleged war crimes and the manufacturing of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, which reportedly generated billions of dollars as packages of the little white pills were smuggled across Syria’s porous borders.

With Assad out of the picture, Syria’s new authorities hope that the international community will pour money into the country to rebuild its battered infrastructure and make its economy viable again.