

Chaotic closure of a huge ISIS detention camp is testing Syria’s regime
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Syrian government is moving to close a detention camp that held tens of thousands of people including family members of suspected Islamic State fighters, after unrest threatened its grip on the facility just weeks after taking it over. Responsibility for the al-Hol detention camp changed hands in January, when the Syrian government launched an offensive that routed the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led militia that had controlled it along with much of northeastern Syria.
The government blamed the disorder on a ragged retreat by the Syrian Democratic Forces that left the camp unguarded for hours and made it difficult to re-establish security. Damascus-based diplomats said thousands of people in recent weeks had fled the camp while under government control. Recent protests and rioting by detainees deepened the disorder.
“The government basically just lost control. They continued to secure the perimeter, but smuggling increased. Holes in the fences continued to be broken open," said Charles Lister, director of the Syria Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington.
“From that point on, it was just chaos." The Syrian government said Tuesday that it was taking steps to contain the situation and closely monitor any Islamic State suspects who had left the camp while working to reintegrate former detainees into society. The government has been letting displaced civilians in the camp go home or relocate elsewhere in Syria, a U.S. defense official said.
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