Syrian security forces stand guard outside Syrian prison. (Karam al-Masri/Reuters)
Kurdish forces announced they would withdraw from overseeing the camp, citing what they described as international indifference to the ISIS threat.
"Due to the international community's indifference towards the ISIS issue and its failure to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter, our forces were compelled to withdraw from al-Hol camp and redeploy," the SDF said in a statement.
The camp is currently home to about 24,000 people, mostly women and children linked to ISIS fighters from across the Middle East and Europe. Many residents have no formal charges, according to aid groups, and humanitarian organizations have long warned that extremist networks operate inside the camp.
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The SDF said guards were redeployed to confront the threat posed by Syrian government forces advancing into Kurdish-held territory. On Tuesday evening, Kurdish forces and Syrian government troops agreed to a four-day ceasefire, though officials warned the truce remains fragile.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. officials are weighing whether to withdraw the roughly 1,000 American troops still stationed in Syria, raising questions about Washington’s long-term ability to secure ISIS detainees as local alliances shift.
Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed in Syria in December by a lone ISIS gunman.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech on the first anniversary of Bashar al-Assad's fall, in Damascus, Syria Dec. 8, 2025. (Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
ISIS lost its last territorial stronghold in Syria in 2019, when U.S. forces and their SDF partners overran the group’s enclave in Baghouz. While the defeat ended the group’s self-declared caliphate, U.S. and allied officials say ISIS has since regrouped as a decentralized insurgency, repeatedly targeting prisons and detention camps in Syria and Iraq.
Western governments have cautiously backed al-Sharaa — a former militant once designated as a terrorist — since his forces overthrew longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, framing the support as a pragmatic security calculation rather than an endorsement of his past.
U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack urged Kurdish leaders to reach a permanent deal with the new Syrian government, emphasizing Washington’s focus on preventing an ISIS resurgence rather than maintaining an indefinite military presence.
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"The United States has no interest in a long-term military presence," Barrack said, adding that U.S. priorities include securing ISIS detention facilities and facilitating talks between the SDF and the Syrian government.
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