NEWS CENTER - SDF Press Officer Ferhat Şami pointed out that most of the 20,000 missing ISIS members live in Turkey and areas under the control of paramilitary forces, and stated that ISIS members have carried out 8 attacks in the last 20 days.

 

Turkey's attacks on Northern and Eastern Syria continue. In the attacks that started on the night of November 19, the Hol Camp, where thousands of ISIS members were held, was also targeted. Taking advantage of the attacks, some ISIS members fled the camp. The Internal Security Forces caught the escaped ISIS members a short time later.

 

Currently, tens of thousands of people from 60 different countries such as Iraq, Syria, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Chechnya, East Turkestan, Indonesia, Russia, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Netherlands, Finland, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are in the camp. The North-East Syrian Internal Security Forces conduct operations against ISIS cells in the camp from time to time. In the operation, which was carried out under the name of "Humanitarian and Security Operation" on March 28, 2021, nearly 300 ISIS members, including ISIS orders, were captured. On August 25, 2022, the second phase of the "Humanitarian and Security Operation" was launched. It was announced that 44 people, including 14 women and children, were killed by ISIS members in the camp.

 

With Turkey's latest attacks, ISIS activity here has also increased. ISIS members took advantage of the attacks and carried out 8 attacks in 20 days.

 

 

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Press Officer Ferhad Shami answered ANF's questions about the latest situation in the camp.

 

600 ISIS DOMINATION

 

Noting that 600 deserts throughout Syria are currently under ISIS control, Şami said: "ISIS members in this desert are carrying out attacks every day to seize different places. There is also pressure on the people of the region in the North and East Syria Region, especially in Deir ez-Zor, sometimes in the south of Raqqa and Hesekê."

 

HALL CAMP

 

Stating that ISIS wants to turn Turkey's attacks into an opportunity, Shami said: "There is a lot of information about the prisons where ISIS members are located and the Hol Camp. There was an attack on the dungeon in Heseke in January. It was only one attack in their planning because in the region They have secret cells and we take actions against them every day. ISIS needs a leader and a commander. These commanders are already in the dungeon. They wanted to expand their organization by abducting them. Their ideology area is in the Hol Camp. The Hol Camp is now divided into two parts. The first is military, the second is ideological. This became clear in the last Humanitarian and Security Operation we carried out. There were no weapons in the training section in the camp, all of them were receiving ideology training, but in the other section we came across military equipment. In other words, ISIS is rebuilding its organisation from two branches in the Hol Camp. In these last months, 2-year-old children appeared in the sections with immigrants. It has not been reflected in the press so far. It will be published. What are these babies doing in the immigration section? Because there are no men in the section with immigrants. It seems that marriages are also made with young children. They want to continue their lineage by marrying children aged 12-13. For this reason, our Security Forces remove people in this age range in the immigration department."

 

8 ATTACKS IN 20 DAYS

 

Noting that there are currently 65,000 ISIS members in camps and prisons, Shami said: "12 thousand of them are only in prisons. There are people from 60 countries apart from Syria and Iraq. All of them are ISIS commanders. They are on the move and want to expand their organisations. Many moves are made to save them. They did too. But they are trying to seize the opportunity with the invasion attacks of the Turkish state. The gangs attempted 8 attacks in 20 days. One of these attacks was against the Hol Camp. The other preparation was against the Hesekê dungeon, south of Reqa, Deir ez-Zor and Hesekê. For this reason, there is a balance between the Turkish state and ISIS attacks, especially the attacks in this process are not a coincidence. Hol Camp was directly targeted in the attacks. The aim was to ensure the escape of ISIS. The Mekmen area, 80 kilometers away from the border, was bombed by Turkish state planes. It is a strategic area between Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Hesekê. The liberation of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa was achieved with the liberation of Mekmen. ISIS tried to revive themselves in Mekmen many times and they carried out many attacks. The Turkish state also directly targeted Mekmen. This is neither a random hit nor a coincidence. It is the revenge of ISIS. ISIS found an opportunity and attacked 8 times with these attacks of the Turkish state. While dealing with these attacks of the Turkish state, we also repulsed 8 ISIS attacks."