-
US Urges 'Plan B' for Islamic State Fighters, Families in Syria

WASHINGTON - The United States and other countries hoping to deal the Islamic State terror group an enduring defeat risk failure by ignoring the tens of thousands of fighters, women and children stuck in prisons or camps across northeastern Syria, key U.S. officials warn.
For months, the U.S. has been urging countries, especially its Western allies, to take back and prosecute citizens who left to fight with IS, also known as ISIS or Daesh. They have also called up upon them to repatriate family members who traveled to or were born into the terror group's self-declared caliphate.
But those calls have largely gone unheeded. And now U.S. officials are growing more vocal, publicly echoing warnings that the prisons and camps are serving as an incubator for the terror group.
"That is a big concern for us at the Defense Department," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Michael Mulroy told an audience in Washington on Wednesday.
"These are people, many of them children, who are only going to have one view and one philosophy the entire time," he said, referring to the al-Hol displaced persons camp. "If the international community doesn't come up with a way to rehabilitate them and reintegrate them into society, that's the next generation of ISIS."
This latest warning comes as an estimated 11,000 IS fighters, including about 2,000 foreign fighters, are being held in more than 30 makeshift prisons, mainly converted school and hospitals, by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
Another 73,000 family members, mostly women and children, are being held at displaced persons camps like al-Hol, many of which are over-capacity.
And there is little immediate hope that conditions are likely to change.
"There is no specific Plan B right now," said Mulroy.
Instead, a growing number of officials admit the problems are likely to get worse, a fear shared by U.S. allies on the ground.
"Many of the wives of ISIS foreign fighters, they still believe in ISIS, even a big number of kids," Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, speaking through an interpreter, told reporters last week during a visit to Washington.
"There's no serious project that works on rehabilitating ISIS family members," she said.
SDC officials have also raised concerns that security measures aimed at keeping IS members from escaping, while holding for now, cannot last long.
Ahmed described how IS family members at camps like al-Hol have taken to setting fires, not in protest, but as a way to give smugglers time to help families escape.
Despite U.S. assurances that prison security measures are holding, Ahmed and other SDC officials warn the prisons "are not equipped' to hold captured fighters indefinitely.
Already, U.S. and SDF officials admit there have been repeated escape attempts at the prisons themselves. While none have been successful, officials at both the Pentagon and the State Department warn the risk of an IS jailbreak is not trivial.
In the meantime, IS supporters in the prisons and camps are becoming more emboldened, while those in charge of security are becoming more desperate.
"People who run these camps are pleading for assistance from the international community," the Council on Foreign Relations' Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, who has visited the al-Hol camp, said, describing it as, "more or less the United Nations of the Islamic State."
"There's great fear in the region," she added. "This is an entirely foreseeable overnight crisis six months in the making."
Only, the pleas of the U.S. and the SDF have run into equally persistent fears from European countries, in particular, those that have been unwilling to repatriate citizens who left to join the IS caliphate.
One such country is the Netherlands, which estimates it has about 100 foreign fighters still in Syria, slightly more than half in SDF custody. Officials there worry European courts are not equipped to deal with what they say would be an enduring threat.
"In the whole judicial system in Europe, it is expected the penal code
"It's not the 100 foreign fighters from Holland, but it's also the top few thousands from Germany and the many thousands from France who in two or three or four years will all come in an open area," he said. "It will be impossible for the security services, so many thousands, to follow them 24-7."
But there has also been a reluctance on the part of Western countries to take back IS family members, even children, and U.S. officials warn that is where the long-term danger lies.
"We have to come up with a plan to rehabilitate them so they can get back into society," the Pentagon's Mulroy said, telling reporters that talks with organizations about deradicalization programs for people, and children, in the camps have been ongoing.
"We need to pick one. We need to fund it. And we need to do something," he said. "If we don't do it as an international community, not just the United States, it's a problem that our kids will be dealing with."
SOURCE:voanews.com
You May Also Like
Popular Posts
Caricature
BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
opinion
Report
ads
Newsletter
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the new updates!