AANES-held areas remain unnoticed despite being ISIS stronghold – DW
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – In northeast Syria, many former Islamic State (ISIS) militants and their families are imprisoned in “hard-to-secure prisons.” The region has long gone unnoticed, despite the fact that ISIS had its stronghold there, the DW reported on Tuesday.
“Though it was defeated militarily, ISIS could regain strength from here. This would have international repercussions,” The DW reported.
In 2022, the filmmaker Kawa Akrawi visited areas held by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and experienced the difficulties faced by the local population up close.
It is feared that the next generation of ISIS is now growing up. “We have defeated IS territorially, but its ideology and organization have not disappeared. They are still active,” the DW said, citing Newroz Ahmad, a member of the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The SDF “can guard the camps and prisons from the outside, but they cannot control them inside. It is an explosive situation.”
The area also has the world’s largest camps for the ISIS militants’ women and children. Many of the wives are from western countries, which have refused to take them back.
Roj and Hawl camps in northeast Syria, run by the SDF and the AANES, house around 57,300 ISIS-linked individuals, including nearly 10,000 foreigners.
Tens of thousands of women and children of ISIS families from about 60 countries are still in these two camps.
The source mentioned the Turkish attacks against the AANES-held areas, saying, ”Turkish President Erdogan has been fighting the Kurds in northeastern Syria for years.”
From Oct.5 to Oct. 9, Turkey attacked 104 sites in northern and northeastern Syria, including vital infrastructure such as power, gas, and water stations and educational facilities, with more than 580 air and ground strikes, according to a statement by the AANES.
The strikes took place following a statement by Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, in which he threatened to strike a broader range of targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the Ankara attack.
On Oct. 1, two individuals carried out a bomb attack in front of the building of the Ministry of Interior in Turkey’s Ankara injuring two police officers.
On Oct. 4, Fidan claimed that the two attackers had been trained in Syria. “From now on, all infrastructure, large facilities and energy facilities belonging to (armed Kurdish groups) in Iraq and Syria are legitimate targets for our security forces,” he threatened.
“Tens of thousands of Kurds have lost their homes and now live in refugee camps,” the DW added.