QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Recently, activities by sleeper cells of the Islamic State (ISIS) in northeast Syria have notably been on the rise.
Siraj Saeed, 67, from the city of Qamishli in northern Syria, voices his fears of jailbreaks by militants of the radical group.
In front of his grocery close to the border with Turkey, Saeed told North Press, “Strikingly, this time the Turkish shelling hits the outskirts of detention centers holding ISIS members; this indicates they support ISIS.”
“People of the region are in dire need of solidarity against Turkish threats which spare none; they want to empty the region of its original inhabitants,” Saeed said.
In the aftermath of the recent Turkish bombardment against the region, people are daunted with a potential disorder and chaos.
On November 20, Turkish air forces and artillery initiated an unprecedented bombardment campaign against the region targeting vital facilities and infrastructure in the whole region extending from north of Aleppo in the northwest up to Derik city in the far northeast.
Three days later, a Turkish warplane targeted with three strikes a picket of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in charge of protecting and guarding Hawl Camp, which houses thousands of the family members of ISIS militants, raising more concerns of the people living in the region. The attack killed eight SDF fighters.
The strikes at the time resulted in chaos within the camp; six people sought to flee the camp but they were caught by concerned forces.
On the very same day, the Cherkine Prison, home to ISIS militants, was shelled by Turkish forces causing wide spread panic among the locals over a possible jailbreak.
Resuscitating ISIS
Amid this gloomy situation, Saeed does not conceal his fears over the repeated Turkish shelling. “We will not give up whatever they do.”
The old Kurdish man wonders, “Turkey says it fights terrorists, why it shells our regions, is this not an act of terror?”
For his part, Luqman Ahme, spokesperson for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), believes the Turkish shelling against the periphery of detention centers holding ISIS families aims at “resuscitating ISIS.”
The AANES’s official warned of prison-breaks and escape attempts from camps in case Turkey launches a ground offensive, as the SDF “will be preoccupied defending the region and that could create a weakness or flaw in protecting detentions centers holding ISIS militants.”
“This could create a fertile ground for jailbreaks and escape attempts at camps to join sleeper cells, and that will pose threats to the region and the world.”
On November 25, security forces aborted an escape attempt of ISIS families from the Hawl Camp.
Amid this status of the affair, resurgence of the extremist group remains a dominant issue for locals of the region as the SDF’s suspension of combating group’s sleeper cells remains active.
There are a number of jails in northeast Syria that hold ISIS, militants most notably is a one in Shaddadi town, al-Sinaa Prison in Hasakah and Cherkine in Qamishli.
Life-threating dangers
Few meters from the Turkish border, Khalaf Muhammad, 55, says resounding sounds of shelling could be heard from time to another, causing fears and posing threats to their lives as well.
“Shelling causes fears. Our house is close to the Cherkine Prison. We are daunted with the prospect of a prison break which could put us in danger.”
In late November, Sail al-Zoba’, a leader in Shaddadi Military Council in the southern countryside of Hasakah, said they had information that ISIS intends to attack prisons holding ISIS militants “making use of Turkish attacks.”
Al-Zoba’ told North Press at the time that ISIS sleeper cells were active in the southern countryside of Hasakah and in Deir ez-Zor, where they target SDF fighters and staff of the AANES.
He noted they arrested five sleeper cells collaborating with armed factions affiliated with Turkey, and others affiliated with ISIS, in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah.
“Our forces are preoccupied with repelling Turkish attacks and securing jails,” he said.
Subhi al-Hamed, 41, from Shaddadi is perturbed too. He has not yet forgotten beheadings that used to be carried out in public squares against people classified as “infidels.”
“As this bad situation prevails Syria, the group would seek to invest in these circumstances to return anew and expand its influence, despite high-profile emirs and leaders have been killed,” Hamed noted.