Mob of ISIS Brides Attacks Guards at Refugee Camp in Syria

Mob of ISIS Brides Attacks Guards at Refugee Camp in Syria
Displaced Syrians stand in line at the internally displaced persons (IDP) camp of al-Hol in northeastern Syria, on Feb. 7, 2019. (Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images)
Tom Ozimek
3/24/2019
Updated:
3/24/2019

A violent mob of ISIS brides—some armed—besieged guards at a Syrian refugee camp, injuring as many as 30 security staff members.

Guards at the al-Hol camp in northern Syria were outnumbered by a large group of rioting black-clad women on March 21, according to the Times of London, and managed to break up the disturbance only after firing warning shots.

“The women were shouting that if I was in their hands, they would behead me,” said 18-year-old Jani, who polices the camp that has seen a large influx of jihadi extremists fleeing the crumbling ISIS caliphate.

Camp authorities had initially anticipated about 15,000 refugees would flow in but today that figure stands at about 72,000, The Times reported.

Guards said that jihadi sympathizers streaming into the facility have been found with suicide belts hidden among their clothes, knives in their hair, and small guns stashed in their belongings.

A general view of the al-Hol displaced persons' camp is seen in northeastern Syria on Feb. 17, 2019. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
A general view of the al-Hol displaced persons' camp is seen in northeastern Syria on Feb. 17, 2019. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

‘They Threw Rocks’

The riot broke out after claims a Syrian man had tried to molest a female ISIS member from Iraq, police said, according to The Times.

The women reportedly tried to lynch the man.

A member of the police was cited by The Times as saying, “They were shouting ‘Allahu Akhbar.’

“They besieged our base and threw rocks at us. They broke windows. Some of our men shot on the ground next to their feet to try to stop them.

“If we had withdrawn, they would have burnt everything. If they had the chance to try to control the camp, they wouldn’t have spared any of us.”

The guards said they are vastly outnumbered by the ISIS fanatics who officials said are desperate to resurrect the “caliphate” and exact vengeance.

A senior member of the police was cited by The Times as saying: “ISIS is finished so it tries to take revenge here. They can even bribe NGOs to bring weapons inside. Even the shops inside the camp, they can give them money and get them to bring them guns.”

Victory Over ISIS

U.S.-backed forces declared military victory over ISIS on March 23.

“Baghouz is free and the military victory against Daesh has been achieved,” tweeted Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led SDF, referring to ISIS by its Arabic acronym.

The White House also announced that the final area held by jihadi fanatics has been “eliminated,” marking the end of a brutal five-year reign that saw the death cult control vast swathes of territory.

After weeks of heavy fighting, the tent camp where the terrorists had made their final stand in the village of Baghouz was bombed to shreds.

An ISIS terrorist flag, in the foreground, lies in a tent encampment after U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters took control of Baghouz, Syria, on March 23, 2019. (Maya Alleruzzo/Photo via AP)
An ISIS terrorist flag, in the foreground, lies in a tent encampment after U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters took control of Baghouz, Syria, on March 23, 2019. (Maya Alleruzzo/Photo via AP)

A field pitted with abandoned trenches and bomb craters and littered with scorched tents and the twisted metal carcasses of vehicles were all that remained. 

Half buried in the dirt was a tattered shred of the ISIS notorious black flag, while a giant yellow flag belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fluttered atop a shell-pocked building.

Cornered in Baghouz, the group fought fiercely and desperately to hang on to the last shred of territory it controlled, using thousands of civilians, including women and children, as human shields. In the final weeks, they streamed out of Baghouz, bedraggled, angry, and hungry, overwhelming Kurdish-run camps in northern Syria where they are being held.

Guards at the al-Holm camp said they fear ISIS sleeper cells mounting revenge attacks.

“We are concerned that they [the ISIS members] might try to break out as a group,” said a police officer, according to The Times. “Or that ISIS might come here and attack the camp.”

“The thing is that because they want revenge, they pick anything to make problems. They start with small problems to create chaos in the camp,” the police said. “It is very crowded, and a small thing can grow very quickly.”

‘Blood Up to Your Knees’

Jihadi brides in Syrian refugee camps have previously vowed chilling revenge.
One woman who fled Baghouz and surrendered to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces was cited in a Mail Online report, warning, “We will seek vengeance, there will be blood up to your knees.”

“We have left, but there will be new conquests in the future,” she said.

A 60-year-old camp refugee that refused to give her name told Mail Online “The caliphate will not end, because it has been ingrained in the hearts and brains of the newborns and the little ones.”

Aid organizations said more than 100 people have died in the journey from Baghouz to the al-Hol camp in Hassakeh Province, or soon after arriving.

Tensions in the camp are high as new arrivals stream in, straining the already overstretched resources of the facility.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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