A “mass escape” reportedly unfolded at Syria’s al-Hol camp, which houses families linked to the Islamic State, after Kurdish forces withdrew, Syrian state television reported.
Thousands of people may have fled the facility, raising security concerns in the region.
Nureddin Baba, a spokesperson for Syria’s Interior Ministry, said that the Syrian Democratic Forces left the camp “without coordination with the Syrian government or the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.”
The SDF rejected the Interior Ministry’s statements as “misleading” and accused Damascus-affiliated factions of entering the camp and removing the families of ISIS members.
“In the face of this deliberate escalation, and amid suspicious international silence, our forces were forced to withdraw in order to avoid turning the camp into an open battlefield,” the SDF said.
“Our forces’ withdrawal came as a direct result of the military attack and mobilization by Damascus targeting the camp and its surroundings,” the statement added.
Earlier in January, the SDF said it had pulled out of al-Hol camp due to “international indifference” toward ISIS and “the failure of the international community to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter.”
Baba added that Syrian authorities “identified more than 100 breaches in the camp’s perimeter wall, which facilitated smuggling operations,” noting that the exact number of escapees still needs verification.
An internal European Union memo reportedly raised concerns that thousands of people,mostly residents of the camp, may have escaped, according to a Reuters report confirmed to CNN by an EU official. The memo stated that the status of third-country nationals fleeing al-Hol “remained unclear.”
The Wall Street Journal, citing US intelligence, reported that 15,000 to 20,000 people, including ISIS affiliates, could now be at large in Syria following the exodus from al-Hol camp, though CNN has not independently verified these figures.
The United Nations estimates that al-Hol camp is home to more than 30,000 people.
Questions have arisen over the fate of ISIS prisoners and their families in northeastern Syria after government forces seized territories long controlled by Kurdish forces, who had been guarding the prisons.
Previously, detainees had also escaped from al-Shaddadi Prison, which the SDF said held “thousands” of ISIS prisoners.
The SDF, once a key US partner in Syria, was left vulnerable after Washington’s 2019 drawdown, particularly following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024 and the rise of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa.
The US-led coalition fighting ISIS had long relied on the SDF to guard ISIS prisons, but the SDF accused the coalition of failing to prevent government-allied forces’ advance.
US Central Command said earlier this month it completed a 23-day operation transferring more than 5,700 ISIS detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraqi custody.
The transfer was intended to ensure secure detention and reduce the risk of an ISIS resurgence, CENTCOM said.
About ISIS in Syria
ISIS emerged from al-Qaeda in Iraq and, at its peak, controlled about a third of Syria, with Raqqa as its capital. In 2017, the SDF, in partnership with US-led coalition forces, declared the “total liberation” of Raqqa.
Although largely defeated by 2019, ISIS remnants still operate covertly in Syria and Iraq. Following the Assad regime’s fall, Middle Eastern and Western powers warned of a potential ISIS resurgence.
In November, Sharaa joined the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, with his forces continuing to pursue remaining ISIS elements.
Pressure is increasing on countries such as Australia, the United States, and Britain to repatriate thousands of citizens, mostly women and children, trapped in detention camps in Syria since the collapse of ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate over five years ago.
CNN previously reported that more than half of al-Hol camp’s population are children, the majority under 12.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently said his country will not repatriate citizens linked to ISIS.
His comments followed reports that 34 Australian women and children were turned back by Syrian authorities after leaving al-Roj, a camp for ISIS militants and their families.
Many governments remain hesitant to repatriate citizens due to national security concerns and domestic opposition.
The al-Roj camp is also home to Shamima Begum, the London schoolgirl who left the UK at age 15 to join ISIS in 2015 and was later stripped of her British citizenship.
