The Syrian Democratic Forces have arrested “dozens of ISIS operatives” while conducting security operations at a massive refugee camp in Syria, U.S. Central Command said Wednesday.
Col. Joe Buccino, the communications director for CENTCOM, explained the arrests led to the “dissolution of a major ISIS facilitation network both within the camp and throughout Syria.”
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In addition to the arrests, the SDF supposedly liberated four women who were found chained and tortured by Islamic State supporters in tunnels on Monday.
“This operation will make the camp safer for those residents who remain or wish to return to their countries of origin but are unable to do so,” Buccino continued. “The SDF will continue its efforts to eliminate the ISIS threat, but it remains critical that the international community support this effort through repatriation.”
Earlier this summer, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) visited al Hol refugee camp and Hasakah prison, both of which are in northeastern Syria, and returned raising alarm bells about the continued radicalization of a new generation of ISIS fighters.
“The reemergence of ISIS as a threat to the American homeland is increasing by the day,” he said. “There’s a perfect storm brewing in northeastern Syria, where we have a refugee camp full of ISIS wives and children mixed in with other populations. That’s going to be an ISIS factory. … The radical elements of the camp are taking over.”
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Dana Stroul, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, agreed with Graham’s sentiment in July, saying, “The most durable solution to the challenges of these detention centers and the displaced person camps is for countries of origin to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and, where appropriate, prosecute their nationals residing in northeast Syria.”
In late January, ISIS fighters launched a prison break on the Hasakah prison, and the fighting went on for days until the SDF and coalition forces were able to end it.
