Syria Empties Al-Hol Camp for ISIS-Linked Families

Syrian authorities have fully emptied the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, a facility that for years housed tens of thousands of women and children linked to the Islamic State group, officials announced Sunday.

The remote desert camp in Hasakeh province, near the Iraqi border, saw its final convoy of residents depart early Sunday, according to Fadi al-Qassem, the Syrian Foreign Ministry representative overseeing the site's administration. In recent weeks, hundreds of families, primarily Syrian and Iraqi nationals, were transferred to the Akhtarin camp in Aleppo province, while others were repatriated to their home countries. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, assisted in the return of 191 Iraqi citizens from al-Hol to Iraq on Thursday, with agency representative Gonzalo Vargas Llosa stating that the camp is now "practically empty" following these moves and the return of several vulnerable Syrian families supported by UNHCR and its partners.

The decision to close al-Hol stemmed from its isolated location, far from essential services and adjacent to territories where Syrian authorities lack full control, a government official explained. Security forces conducted searches...