Thick black smoke billowed from Al Hol camp in north-east Syria, the country’s largest centre housing families with alleged links to ISIS, as unrest spread among residents who said they had gone days without food, water or medication.
The smoke rose into a dark cloud, hanging over Syrian security forces guarding the site. Personnel there said they had not entered the camp.
Behind the fence, dozens of families pressed together, their hands clutching the iron bars, pleading for help. A woman wrapped in a black niqab said her children had not eaten for days. A man beside her said his mother was in desperate need of her diabetes medication, while a young man asked for an internet hotspot.
It was unclear what was burning, but families and the former camp director told The National that some residents had attacked administrative buildings and humanitarian centres. Other residents said the Syrian Democratic Forces had burnt some of their centres to hide incriminating evidence.
Al Hol has been completely sealed off since a chaotic handover between the Kurdish-led authorities and Syria’s central government on Wednesday. Intensified clashes between the two sides forced humanitarian staff to pull out, leaving the camp’s 24,000 residents on their own.
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