Iraq: Camp hosting terrorists in US-occupied east Syria must be dismantled

A high-ranking Iraqi security official has called for the dismantlement of a refugee camp controlled by US-backed Kurdish militants near the Iraqi border in Syria, saying the camp, which houses thousands of Daesh terrorists, poses a “real threat” to his country’s national security.

“The presence of the al-Hawl camp in eastern Syria represents a real threat because of the presence of 12,000 terrorists in it, and there are attempts by Daesh to penetrate it,” al-Araji told an international conference about the camp held in Baghdad, the Iraqi News Agency reported on Saturday.

The camp is located on the southern outskirts of the town of al-Hawl in Syria’s al-Hasakah Province, where US occupation forces and its allied militants are actively present. Besides the internally displaced, families of Daesh terrorists also reside there.

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It is the largest camp in war-torn Syria, with more than 60,000 people, according to UN figures. There are also widespread reports that Daesh terrorists use the camp for recruitment purposes.

“All terrorists in the al-Hawl camp must be transferred and sent to their countries for trial,” al-Araji said.

The senior Iraqi official called on foreign governments to repatriate their citizens from al-Hawl and urged a rapid dismantlement of the camp.

Days earlier, Araji had once again raised the issue in a meeting with US Ambassador Matthew Tueller.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring Iran.

The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash fresh violence.

Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha'abi, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad International Airport.

The Iraqi anti-terror resistance groups have repeatedly warned Baghdad that the remnants of Daesh active in Syria’s US-occupied east may find unhindered access to the Iraqi border and infiltrate into its western Anbar Province.

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This is while the positions of the PMU and its affiliated resistance groups operating against Daesh in the border regions have repeatedly come under attack by the US military over the past years.

The US military has stationed forces and military equipment in eastern and northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.

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