Mass Escapes of Foreign IS Detainees from al-Hol, Fueled by IS-Linked Global Fundraising Networks, Pose Urgent Security Threats

Mona Thakkar & Anne Speckhard Over 6000 foreign IS women and children escaped from the heavily guarded annex of al-Hol camp exploiting the security vacuum during the chaotic January handover of the camp from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to the Syrian government. Thousands of IS women were reportedly spirited out in midnight convoys…

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Pro-IS Transnational Networks Step Up Online Fundraising Efforts, Successfully Extricating Foreign IS Women and Children from Syrian Detention Camps in Post-Assad Syria

Mona Thakkar and Anne Speckhard Since the ouster of the Assad regime, IS has sought to exploit Syria’s fragile transitional governance period, marked by sectarian violence, US military drawdown, and other internal security problems, to escalate its attacks. Most of its claimed attacks this year have reportedly been in SDF-held areas of northeastern Syria, where the detention…

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