Syrian fighters backed by the United States have rescued tens of thousands of women and children after a weeks-long raid on a refugee camp in northern Syria. Dozens of militants were subsequently arrested and an unknown number of weapons seized following the 24-day operation in the al-Hol camp by the Internal Security Forces and the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. In total, about 50,000 Syrians and Iraqis lived in tents in the camp, including about 20,000 children. An additional 2,000 women lived in a separate annex of the camp along with 8,000 children. The women in the second group were from 57 different countries and are believed to be supporters of the IS terror group. FILE – Children gather outside their tents at the al-Hol camp, which houses families of members of the Islamic State group, in Syria’s Hasakeh province, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File) The camp was mainly used by IS fighters to recruit and train the next generation of fighters to form another Islamic State caliphate, according to Homeland Security Forces. The al-Hol camp is Syria’s largest refugee camp, the Washington Post reported. CENTCOM CHIEF BELIEVES SYRIA IS ‘EXECUTION’ FOR NEXT GENERATION OF ISIS “The operation was launched following increasing crimes of killing and torture committed by ISIS cores against the residents of the camp,” the US-backed forces said, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. FILE – Women talk to guards at the gate at the Al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province, Syria, March 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File) US-BACKED FORCES IN SYRIA ARRESTED DOZENS OF ISIS TERRORISTS HIDING IN REFUGEE CAMP “ISIS has mainly depended on women and children, as real resources directly related to ISIS leaders, to maintain ISIS’s extremist ideology and spread it in the camp,” the statement added. Extremists in the camp killed 44 residents and aid workers, they also said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP FILE – Women walk in the al-Hol camp that hosts about 60,000 refugees, including families and supporters of Islamic State, many of whom are foreign nationals, in Syria’s Hasakeh province, May 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File) In 2019, the US and its Middle Eastern partners declared victory over the IS terrorist group, ending the caliphate’s rule on the Iraq-Syria border. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
