Senior US commander sounds alarm over Syria’s Islamic State prison camps
Michael 'Erik' Kurilla, the Army four-star general overseeing all American troops in the Middle East, went inside Syria's al-Hol Islamic State detainment camp Friday and spoke with residents. He says many can be sent home.
![Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces use a metal detector to sweep the ground during an inspection of tents at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on Aug. 28, 2022, as the Syrian Democratic Forces mount a security campaign against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2022-09/GettyImages-1242777720.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=OJs6wDm7)
The commander of all US military forces in the Middle East made an urgent appeal to the international community after visiting the al-Hol camp for Islamic State detainees in northeast Syria on Friday.
Describing al-Hol as a “humanitarian catastrophe” and a "flashpoint of human suffering,” US Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla urged governments around the world to repatriate their citizens from the camp “and rehabilitate them if needed.”