DID Press: US intelligence agencies say following a security breakdown at al-Hol camp in eastern Syria, between 15,000 and 20,000 people—including relatives and affiliates of Islamic State—are now moving freely inside the country.
According to U.S. officials familiar with the assessment, the crisis followed last month’s offensive operations by the Syrian government, which led to the defeat of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that had long been responsible for securing the camp.
Al-Hol, which housed families of ISIS fighters, had for years been flagged by security experts as a breeding ground for a new generation of extremists—particularly children raised in isolation and radicalized environments.
After Syrian government forces took control of the area, security rapidly deteriorated. Amid unrest and large-scale escape attempts, thousands of detainees fled the camp.
Located in Syria’s eastern desert near the Iraqi border, al-Hol once held more than 70,000 people following the collapse of ISIS’s self-declared “caliphate” in 2019. According to a report released this week by the Pentagon’s Inspector General, more than 23,000 people were still being held there by the end of 2025.
Western diplomats in Damascus estimate that more than 20,000 people left the camp within days of the unrest. One diplomat monitoring the situation said that at the start of this week only 300 to 400 families remained on site.
U.S. officials blame the current crisis on mismanagement by Syria’s current authorities and weak security measures around the camp. In response, the Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, said many former detainees have dispersed across the country and that plans are underway to monitor suspected extremists and pursue their reintegration into society.
Damascus also accused the Syrian Democratic Forces of abandoning the camp for hours during January operations.
Security analysts warn that mass release of potentially radicalized individuals could pose a renewed threat to Syria’s stability and to regional security.