Paramedic shot dead in al-Hol camp in Rojava

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A paramedic of the Kurdish Red Crescent was killed on Tuesday night in northern Syria’s (Rojava) al-Hol camp, which houses thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) affiliates, media outlets reported, marking the second murder at camp in the year.

Two armed ISIS suspects assassinated a paramedic inside the medical service point in Hasaka province’s al-Hol camp, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. He was shot in the head, which led to his death immediately. 

The medic was identified as Bassem Mohammed, 26, from the province’s al-Salihiya neighborhood, according to North Press Agency (NPA). 

Both SOHR and NPA claimed that the alleged killers entered the medical service point with forged IDs, killing Mohammed after their real identities were pointed out.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrested thousands of ISIS fighters and their wives and children when they took control of the group’s last stronghold in Syria in March 2019. Most of these people are held at al-Hol, which is home to more than 60,000 people - mostly women and children of different nationalities.

Al-Hol has been branded a breeding ground for terrorism. A Syrian refugee was shot dead at the camp earlier this year. 

The camp saw 84 murders over the past year, killing at least 89 people, including security members and children, reported SOHR. 

However, a media outlet affiliated with the Kurdish authorities in Rojava raised the toll to 126 crimes during that year, marking 2021 as “the deadliest” at the camp.  

There have been repeated calls from Kurdish and US officials asking the international community to repatriate their nationals from al-Hol, but only a few countries have responded positively as they are worried about security concerns.

Iraq repatriated 111 eleven families from al-Hol on Saturday, while a group of 194 people from 48 families left the camp in November.