Located in northeastern Hasakah province, Al-Hol was among the many towns seized by the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) during its cross-border rise in 2014, and among the first taken by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish militia backed by the United States, the following year. As Syria’s war raged on, tens of thousands of displaced people—including the families of ISIS fighters— ended up in the town’s southern outskirts, which already hosted a camp formerly reserved for those fleeing two U.S.-led wars against neighboring Iraq.
New photos taken by Danish freelance journalist Thea Pedersen and obtained by Newsweek show what life looks like inside Al-Hol. Pedersen told Newsweek she was the first journalist to access the heavily-restricted site since the Turkish led operation, and described the atmosphere there as “tense.”
With an attack from Turkey-backed rebels on these same Kurdish fighters now threatening to destabilize the area, many have expressed concern not only about the well-being of the Al-Hol camp’s inhabitants, but also regarding a potential ISIS resurgence fueled by angry, alienated residents of the sprawling city of tents. The site has increasingly become a second priority for local forces amid threats that the frontlines with Turkey and its allies could grow near.
Pedersen cited one local administrator as saying “It’s out of control here, the only thing we can do is keep the prisoners inside these gates, but what’s happening inside, we have no control.”
