The Kurds fear the resurgence of the Islamic State group in Syria

As the new Syria tries to take shape, old threats are re-emerging.

The chaos since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad is “paving the way” for the return of the so-called Islamic State (IS), according to a leading Kurdish commander who helped defeat the jihadist group in Syria in 2019. the return has already begun.

“The activity of Daesh (IS) has increased significantly and the danger of a resurgence has doubled,” said General Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a mainly Kurdish militia alliance backed by the US. have more opportunities and more opportunities.”

According to intelligence reports, IS militants captured some of the weapons and ammunition left by the Syrian regime forces.

And he warns that there is a “real threat” that the militants will try to break into prisons run by the SDF here in north-east Syria, where around 10,000 of their men are being held. The SDF also holds around 50,000 of their family members in camps.

Our conversation with the general was late at night, at a place we cannot disclose.

He welcomed the fall of the Assad regime, which had detained him four times. But he looked tired and admitted he was frustrated at the prospect of fighting the old battles again.

“We fought against them (IS) and paid 12,000 souls,” he said, referring to SDF casualties. “I think at some level we’re going to have to get back to where we were before.”

The risk of an IS resurgence is heightened, he says, because the SDF is under increasing attack from neighboring Turkey – and the rebel groups it supports – and must withdraw some fighters for that battle. He tells us that the SDF has had to halt counter-terrorist operations against IS, and hundreds of prison guards – out of thousands – have returned home to defend their villages.

Ankara sees the SDF as an extension of the PKK, outlawed Kurdish separatists who have waged a decades-long insurgency and are classified as terrorists by the US and the EU. He has long wanted to create a 30-kilometer “buffer zone” in the Kurdish region of northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Assad, she has been pushing harder to get him.

“The number one threat right now is Turkey because its airstrikes are killing our forces,” General Abdi said. “These attacks must stop because they distract us from our focus on the security of detention centers,” he said, “although we will always do our best.”

Inside Al-Sina, the largest prison for IS prisoners, we saw the level of security and felt the tension among the staff.

About 5,000 people are being held at the former educational institute in the city of Al-Hasaka, suspected of being militants or IS supporters.

The door of each cell is padlocked and closed with three bolts. The corridors are divided into sections by heavy iron gates. Guards in masks, with batons in their hands. Getting access here is rare.

We were allowed to look inside two of the cells, but were not able to speak to the men inside. They were told that we were journalists and given the opportunity to hide their faces. Few did. Most sat silently on blankets and thin mattresses. Two men were walking on the floor.

Kurdish security sources say most of the prisoners at Al-Sina were with IS until the latest battle and were deeply committed to its ideology.

We were led to meet the 28-year-old detainee – thin and gentle, who did not want to give his name. He said that he speaks freely, but he will not speak on key issues.

He told us he left his native Australia at the age of 19 to visit his grandmother in Cyprus.

“From there one thing led to another,” he said, “and I ended up in Aleppo.” He claimed he was working with an NGO in Raqqa city when IS seized the area.

I asked if he had blood on his hands and was he involved in killing anyone? “No, I wasn’t,” he answered barely audible.

And did he support what IS was doing? “I don’t want to answer that question because it might affect my case,” he replied.

He hopes to return to Australia one day, although he is not sure if he will be welcomed.

There is also hope behind the wire at Camp Rogge – about three hours away – that freedom will come. Somehow.

This bleak space of tents – surrounded by walls, fences and watchtowers – is home to nearly 3,000 women and children. They have never been tried or convicted, but they are the families of IS fighters and supporters.

There are several British women in the camp. We met three of them, briefly. All said their lawyers told them not to talk.

In a windswept corner, we met a woman willing to talk – 47-year-old Saida Temirbulatova, a former tax inspector from Dagestan. Her nine-year-old son Ali stood quietly by her side. She hopes that Assad’s ouster will mean freedom for both of them.

“The new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) made a speech in which he declared that he would give freedom to all. We also want freedom. We want to go, most likely, to Russia. the only country that will accept us.”

The head of the camp tells us that the others believe that IS will come to their aid and knock them out. She asked us to withhold her name because she fears for her safety.

“Since the fall of Assad, the camp has been calm. “Usually, when it’s so quiet, it means women are organizing themselves,” she said. “They packed their bags to go. They say, “We will soon leave this camp and be renewed. We will be back again as IS.”

She says that changes are visible even in children who chant slogans and swear at passers-by. “They say, ‘We’ll come back and get you. It (IS) fast.’

During our time at the camp, many children raised the index finger of their right hand. The gesture is used by all Muslims in daily prayer, but it is also widely used by IS militants in propaganda images.

The women at Camp Roj are not the only ones packing their bags.

Some Kurdish civilians in the town of al-Hasakah are doing the same – fearing a return of jihadists and a new Turkish ground offensive in northeastern Syria.

Juan, 24, who teaches English, prepares to go – reluctantly.

“I’ve packed my bag, I’m preparing my ID and important documents,” he tells me. “I don’t want to leave my home and my memories, but we all live in a state of constant fear. The Turks are threatening us and the door is open to IS. They can attack their prisons. They can do whatever they want.”

Juan was already displaced once before from the northwestern city of Aleppo at the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011. He ponders where to go this time.

“The situation requires urgent international intervention to protect the civilian population,” he says. I ask if he thinks he will come. “No,” he replies quietly. But he asks me to mention his request.

Additional reporting by Michael Steininger and Matthew Goddard