Al-Hol refugee camp has become an ISIS stronghold, official says

Shafaq News / A local official in Sinjar district said that al-Hol refugee camp in al-Hasakah governorate in northeastern Syria, which houses families of ISIS terrorists, has become a stronghold for the organization's activities.

According to United Nations estimates, more than 70,000 person live in the camp, including several thousand terrorist fighters from nearly 50 countries.

Khadida Jouqi, director of the Sununi district, north of Sinjar, told Shafaq News agency that Al-Hol camp has also become a point for smuggling ISIS terrorists into Iraq through the border areas, in addition to smuggling people from inside the camp to other Syrian areas controlled by Jabhat al-Nusra. 

Furthermore, Jouqi revealed that the camp includes kidnapped Yazidis, calling for an international team supported by Iraqi parties to enter the camp and free them. 

It is noteworthy that Al-Hol camp was built nearly 30 years ago to house Iraqi refugees who fled to the Syrian border during the Gulf War, and was used again as a shelter for Iraqis after the US-led invasion in 2003. ISIS targeted Al-Hol area, as it was one of the border areas that can easily fall into their hands.