ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led internal security forces of north and east Syria (Asayish) on Wednesday announced that they had thwarted a mass escape attempt by 56 alleged Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated individuals in the al-Hol camp, according to an official statement released by the forces.

The Asayish reported detecting “suspicious activity” on Tuesday afternoon as “a group of individuals were seen as they were boarding the vehicle in an abnormal manner,” read the statement.

Security forces stopped the vehicle before it passed through the camp’s main gate and “arrested all those inside,” adding that “the detainees were transferred to our specialized security departments to begin extensive investigations and uncover the circumstances of this failed operation.”

Located in the Hasakah province in northern Syria, al-Hol is one of the largest refugee camps in the country, hosting approximately 40,000 displaced people from different nationalities, including families of Iraqi, Syrian, and foreign Islamic State (ISIS) militants.

The camp, located by the border of Iraq and Syria, poses a security threat to both of these states due to numerous escape attempts and reports of radicalization among the detainees.

In April 2025, Iraq's National Security Service chief Abdul Karim Abdul Fadel urged the Syrian Democratic Forces to hand over 1,900 Iraqi ISIS members detained in the camp.

“They’re trying to attack the prison and free their fighters,” he said. “That camp contains about 1,900 Iraqis linked to ISIS. If they get out, the consequences will be severe.”

According to a report issued by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) in 2022, Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)-affiliated Asayish security forces managed to “thwart the escape of some 200 women of different nationalities with their children from the camp.”

Iraq has been steadily repatriating its citizens from the camp. On May 31, approximately 840 individuals from 224 Iraqi families were returned to Iraq in a coordinated effort between the AANES and Iraq’s Migration and Displacement Committee.

This marked the ninth such operation in 2025. The transfers, conducted under strict security by the Asayish and monitored by the Global Coalition, come as Iraq accelerates its repatriation efforts amid regional shifts, including the collapse of the Assad regime and a US military realignment in northeastern Syria. The camp still holds over 13,000 Iraqis, along with thousands of displaced Syrians and foreign nationals linked to ISIS.

An international conference regarding the al-Hol camp is set to be held at the UN's New York headquarters in mid-September "at Iraq's request," Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq's migration and displacement ministry, told Iraqi state media on Friday.

SOHR reported that US officials visited al-Hol on Wednesday "to discuss the humanitarian and security developments in the camp... as a part of efforts by international authorities to monitor and follow the latest developments in the camp and conditions of its inhabitants."

Iraq and the UN have an agreement to return all Iraqi nationals from Syria’s al-Hol camp by 2027.

Reporting by Hevi Karam