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3. Syria Kurdish forces 'compelled to withdraw' from IS-linked Al-Hol camp

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday they had to withdraw from northeast Syria's Al-Hol camp, which holds thousands of relatives of Islamic State group jihadists, after the army accused them of abandoning the site.

Northeast Syria's Kurdish-administered camps and prisons hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived IS links, including the biggest camp Al-Hol where more than 24,000 remain detained nearly seven years after the group's territorial defeat.

"Our forces were compelled to withdraw from Al-Hol camp and redeploy in the vicinity of cities in northern Syria that are facing increasing risks and threat," the SDF said in a statement.

The Kurdish-led forces accused the international community of "indifference" towards the IS issue and said it had failed "to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter".

The move came as the Syrian army sent reinforcements towards the Kurdish stronghold of Hasakeh province, where Al-Hol is located, after taking over neighbouring Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces.

Earlier the army, according to state media, accused the Kurdish-led forces of "abandoning the guard of Al-Hol camp" and said the military "will cooperate with the internal security forces to enter the area and secure it".

The defence ministry said it was ready to take responsibility for Al-Hol camp "and all IS prisoners" after the SDF withdrawal.

The interior ministry said it was taking "all necessary measures in coordination and cooperation with the international coalition to maintain security and stability" after the SDF pullout.

Al-Hol's director Jihan Hanan told AFP in December that the camp was home to more than 24,000 people -- around 15,000 Syrians, 3,500 Iraqis and 6,200 other foreigners.

The camp has a high-security section that holds non-Syrian and non-Iraqi women and children.

Syrian Kurdish official Elham Ahmad told an online event that "our calls for intervention" to the US-led international coalition against IS, which has long cooperated with the Kurdish forces, "have gone unanswered to this moment", according to the English translation of her remarks in Kurdish.

On Sunday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed a deal including a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurdish administration in north and northeast Syria into the state.

The deal includes integrating the Kurdish administration responsible for IS "prisoners and camps" and "forces responsible for protecting these facilities" into the Syrian government, which will take "full legal and security responsibility for them".

The Kurds have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens from their facilities, but foreign governments have generally allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and a domestic political backlash, though Baghdad has accelerated repatriations to neighbouring Iraq.

AFP