Threat of Turkish attacks on northern Syria extends to Iraq
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – Lieutenant-General Jabar Yawar, an expert in military and security affairs, said on Friday that any Turkish attack poses a great danger to the entire region, as it may cause the Islamic State (ISIS) to revive.
Yawar, the former secretary-general of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, said in a statement to North Press that the presence of ISIS families in camps of Syria and Iraq, as well as in prisons in both countries, is a dangerous issue and is becoming more and more threatening with the military tensions in the region.
Yawar focused in particular on the “very dangerous” Hawl Camp, which houses more than 50.000 of the women and children of ISIS militants. The camp was subjected two days ago to Turkish raids that caused a number of ISIS women to flee.
The threat of such camps, according to the Iraqi expert, is that the children who are there, have been brought up on the extremist organization’s ideologies.
As for the prisons that contain ISIS leaders and gunmen, especially those in northeast Syria, Yawar said that they have become centers of ISIS plots, citing the prison break that took place in al-Sinaa Prison in Hasakah city, northeastern Syria, in January. The prison, which is home for thousands of ISIS militants, was attacked by ISIS gunmen with the aim of freeing fellow inmates, sparking a 10-day-battle between the followers of the terrorist organization and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
According the military expert, the danger of camps and prisons increases sharply when they are subjected to Turkish strikes, which may help ISIS militants or their families to flee.
Yawar noted that this danger would extend to Iraq, and may even have contribute to the growth of ISIS in the Middle East.