The Women’s Internal Security Forces (Asayîş) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) conducted a three-day operation in the Roj Camp, northeastern Syria, arresting 16 ISIS suspects and confiscating material used to teach children the use of weapons.
A three-day security operation in Roj Camp, located 10 km east of Derik (Dêrîk) in the Jazira (Cizîrê) canton of North and East Syria, concluded on Monday with the arrest of 16 Islamic State (ISIS) suspects. The camp, which houses families of suspected ISIS members, saw security forces seize communication equipment used to coordinate with external contacts and uncover a secret tunnel.
The operation was led by the Women’s Internal Security Forces (Asayîş) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). It was “preemptive and intelligence-based”, the Asayîş announced, intended to disrupt ISIS cells allegedly planning recruitment, communication with external operatives, and escape attempts.
The Asayîş also stated that during the operation all sections of the camp were thoroughly searched and that education material and tools was confiscated that had been used to teach children how to use weapons and indoctrinate them on extremist ideology. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has repeatedly warned that conditions in these camps, if left unaddressed, could foster the resurgence of extremist ideologies.
Roj Camp, along with the larger al-Hol (Hawl) Camp, houses thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), the majority of whom are women and children linked to suspected ISIS fighters. The AANES has appealed to the international community to repatriate foreign nationals and assist in camp management.
