ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday they captured a senior leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) in a dawn raid on al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Baha al-Maseeri, also known as Abu Abdulrahman, is an Iraqi national who played a key role “in reactivating ISIS cells, coordinating ideological and military recruitment,” the SDF said.
He was also involved “in manufacturing and preparing explosive devices intended to be smuggled out of the camp to target civilians, our forces, and public institutions, aiming to sow chaos and undermine stability,” it added.
He was arrested by SDF special forces working with the United States-led coalition forces.
Located in Rojava’s eastern Hasaka province, al-Hol remains one of the largest and most volatile displacement camps in the region. It houses suspected family members and supporters of ISIS. The camp’s population has dropped to 25,301 individuals, according to the latest figures from camp authorities, down from more than 60,000 after the defeat of ISIS in 2019. The camp’s residents come from around the world, though most are Iraqis and Syrians.
Al-Hol has frequently been described as a breeding ground for extremism.
The SDF said that Maseeri’s mission was to “rebuild ISIS’s operational infrastructure inside the camp and turn it into a hub for planning and managing cells operating beyond it.”
His capture was “a decisive blow to the organization’s operational capabilities and a critical step in dismantling its communication and funding networks,” the force added.
The SDF said it will not allow al-Hol to become a safe haven for “terrorism” and vowed to continue its close coordination with the international coalition to uproot extremist networks and restore lasting security to liberated areas.
The SDF has repeatedly said that the security and humanitarian burden at al-Hol and other camps is unsustainable, urging foreign governments to repatriate their citizens.