WEST WARNED ISIS COULD BE 'REBORN' IN 24 HOURS

ISIS could be “reborn in 24 hours” with thousands of extremists flooding into the West, it is feared.

- By Richard Ashmore in Syria

Prison camps holding them in Syria are on the verge of violent uprisings which may see fanatics freed to resume their reign of terror. At least 35,000 ex-Islamic State followers have been held in facilities run by the Western-backed Syrian Democratic Forces since the fall of ISIS in 2019.

They include more than 8,000 foreign jihadis and ISIS brides such as British-born Shamima Begum. But when the Express visited a camp just days after a riot broke out, Jihan Hanan, co-leader of one of the enclosures, warned that the prison is on the brink of a violence which could see thousands of potential terrorists released.

She said: "ISIS are still here in Syria, they can revive at any minute. Right now in al-Hol camp if another side took over...just give it 24 hours and ISIS will be reborn again.

"If the SDF stopped being in control, ISIS would return and a big war would happen.

"We will face a big challenge. It will be really difficult for us because the war against ISIS is not only a war fought using weapons, it's also a war against an extremist ideology.

"The SDF are the ones that are able to protect [the West] and the camp." The two main camps of UN-style refugees' tents are al-Roj - where several thousand foreign women and children are detained including Begum and other British-born brides - and al-Hol, the so-called "ISIS city".

Al-Hol also has a high-security wing for 6,000 foreign-born ISIS brides and their children. The women are still highly radicalised and rioted against guards recently, also attacking and burning down education centres set up by Save The Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council. A Russian was badly beaten for removing her hijab.

Just like the guards, we were not allowed to enter the "foreign" part due to safety risks. So we drove around the perimeter past rows of white tents, each with a water butt.