Iraqi ISIS Operative Arrested in Syria's Al Hawl Camp

The Guardian

Guard looking over Al Hawl Camp.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Monday, 2 June 2025, the arrest of an Iraqi Islamic State (ISIS) operative during a targeted operation inside Al Hawl Camp, located in the Hasakah countryside of northeastern Syria.

In an official statement, the SDF reported that its Military Operations Teams (MOT) carried out a "precise security operation" on 31 May 2025 within the camp, resulting in the capture of a senior member of an ISIS sleeper cell.

The operation, conducted in coordination with the U.S.-led Global Coalition, led to the arrest of Saleh Ali Salman Ali, also known by the aliases Abu Khairallah and Abu Awab. The detainee is reportedly an Iraqi national.

According to the statement, the individual had participated in several battles against the Iraqi army before fleeing to Syria following the collapse of ISIS in Iraq.

“The captured terrorist had previously taken part in multiple battles alongside the terrorist organisation against the Iraqi army,” the statement read. “Following ISIS’s defeat in Iraq, he fled to Syria and entered Al Hawl Camp under the guise of being a refugee.”

While in the camp, the suspect is alleged to have served as a security operative, actively recruiting youth and providing intelligence to ISIS cells regarding the camp’s internal affairs and the movement of other operatives.

Al Hawl is a large refugee camp in northern Syria, near the Syria-Iraq border. The massive fence confines 39,000 people, 11,000 of whom are foreign nationals. Of these, 95% are women and children — mostly relatives of ISIS fighters — along with a number of other civilians displaced by war. The camp is divided into six sections. Sections 1 through 5 house about 33,000 Syrians and Iraqis. Section 6, which the camp’s director described as “the most dangerous,” holds the families of foreign fighters from over 42 countries.



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