A deadly clash between YPG/PKK and suspected ISIS terrorists at a refugee camp in northern Syria has claimed the lives of three people, including a child.

YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terror group, sent several members late at night in an attempt to enter the Al Hol camp of the Hasakah province, local sources said on Tuesday.

The advancement reportedly resulted in an armed conflict with suspected ISIS affiliates. Many tents in the camp suffered heavy damages including casualties.

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The clashes halted within a few hours but the situation in the area remains tensed. Al-Hol is the largest camp for refugees and internally displaced people in Syria, hosting about 56,000 people, most of whom are Iraqis and Syrians. However, the camp also have foreign residents who are thought to have ISIS links.

Just last week, the Syria-based North Press Agency reported, citing intelligence that ISIS was plotting a full-scale attack on al-Hol camp.

“Last Monday, a group of ISIS cells were planning for a full-scale attack in the camp, and it is possible that this group is the first one to plan for such attacks,” a high-ranking security source told North Press. 

“We noticed a crowd of people in the first sector and when the security forces headed to the scene to question the reason for the gathering, ISIS cells started shooting,” the source added.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor issued an appeal urging the international community to find an immediate and lasting solution for the crisis in al-Hol camp and rehabilitate the camp’s children and women affected by ISIS’s violent ideology.

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SOHR called al-Hol something like a “mini-state” for ISIS-affiliated members and families.

“We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), renew our appeal to the international community to find a lasting solution to ‘Al-Hawl (al-Hol) mini-state’ crisis, which is considered a clear and present danger to everyone,” read the SOHR appeal.