US General Warns of ISIS ‘Army in Detention’ in Syria, Iraq

A handout picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on March 11, 2023, shows US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla (C) visiting a camp, which holds relatives of suspected ISIS group fighters, in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
A handout picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on March 11, 2023, shows US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla (C) visiting a camp, which holds relatives of suspected ISIS group fighters, in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
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US General Warns of ISIS ‘Army in Detention’ in Syria, Iraq

A handout picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on March 11, 2023, shows US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla (C) visiting a camp, which holds relatives of suspected ISIS group fighters, in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
A handout picture released by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on March 11, 2023, shows US Central Command Commander General Michael Kurilla (C) visiting a camp, which holds relatives of suspected ISIS group fighters, in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province. (Photo by US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)

A US general warned Saturday that the Middle East faces the looming threat of an ISIS group "army in detention", after visiting prisons and camps in northeastern Syria holding suspected extremists and their relatives.

General Michael Kurilla, head of the US military's Central Command, visited several detention facilities this week, including Ghwayran prison in the city of Hasakeh, where hundreds were killed after extremists stormed it early last year, a CENTCOM statement said.

"In visiting the detention facility, I saw the looming threat posed by this group of detained ISIS fighters," Kurilla said in the statement.

"Between those detained in Syria and Iraq it is a veritable 'ISIS army in detention'. If freed, this group would pose a great threat regionally and beyond," he added.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by a US-led coalition, spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Syria, driving the group from its last redoubt in the country in 2019.

Tens of thousands of people, including relatives of alleged extremists, have been detained in the years since in camps run by the Kurdish authorities, including the notorious Al-Hol camp, where around 10,000 foreigners are held.

Kurdish authorities have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed only a trickle to return home, fearing security threats and domestic political backlash.

SDF commanders and administrators at Ghwayran prison described the detainees as "unrepentant, subject to further radicalization to violence, and a ticking time bomb", CENTCOM said.

Kurilla also visited the Kurdish-run camps of Roj and Al-Hol, where relatives of suspected extremists are held.

Children in Al-Hol "are in daily danger of indoctrination to violence", CENTCOM said, adding that teenagers with foreign parents "expressed a desire to return to their country of origin".

Kurilla urged the "repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration of the camp residents back into their countries and communities of origin", calling Al-Hol a "flashpoint of human suffering".

The extremists were ousted from Iraqi territory in 2017 but retain sleeper cells in desert and mountain hideouts in both Syria and neighboring Iraq.

Suspected ISIS militants killed three truffle hunters and kidnapped at least 26 others in northern Syria on Saturday, a war monitor said.

The fight against the extremists "is a fight for security and stability of not only Syria and Iraq, but the entire region", Kurilla said.

"We absolutely cannot allow a resurgence of ISIS."



UN Peacekeepers Say Troops Attacked by Individuals in South Lebanon

A joint force from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in Naqoura near the Israeli border (Archive - AFP)
A joint force from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in Naqoura near the Israeli border (Archive - AFP)
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UN Peacekeepers Say Troops Attacked by Individuals in South Lebanon

A joint force from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in Naqoura near the Israeli border (Archive - AFP)
A joint force from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in Naqoura near the Israeli border (Archive - AFP)

United Nations peacekeepers said rock-throwing individuals confronted them during a patrol on Tuesday in south Lebanon, calling repeated targeting of their troops "unacceptable".

The UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978 to separate Lebanon and Israel, sits on a five-member committee to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In a statement, UNIFIL said peacekeepers conducting "a planned patrol" coordinated with the Lebanese army were "confronted by a group of individuals in civilian clothing in the vicinity of Hallusiyat al-Tahta, in southern Lebanon".

"The group attempted to obstruct the patrol using aggressive means, including throwing stones at the peacekeepers," the statement read, adding that "one peacekeeper was struck" but no injuries were reported, AFP reported.

The situation was defused when the Lebanese army intervened, allowing the peacekeeping force to continue its patrol.

"It is unacceptable that UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to be targeted," the statement added.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP a Finnish soldier was slapped during the confrontation.

A witness, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said an altercation ensued between locals and the Lebanese army, who were searching for the man who slapped the peacekeeper.

One man opposing the army was injured and hospitalized, the witness said.

In a statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he "strongly condemns the repeated attacks" on UNIFIL forces and called for the attackers to be stopped and held accountable.

There have been several confrontations between people in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, and UN peacekeepers in recent weeks.

Confrontations are typically defused by the Lebanese army and rarely escalate.

In December 2022, an Irish peacekeeper was killed in a shooting at a UN armoured vehicle in the south. Hezbollah surrendered a man accused of the crime, but he was released around a year later.

The November ceasefire agreement, which sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, states that only Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers may be deployed in the country's south.

Israel is supposed to have fully withdrawn its troops from Lebanon according to the deal, but has remained in five positions it deems strategic and has repeatedly bombed the country.