A-Infos (en) UK, AFed, Organise: (A) REPORT FROM NES - 16/22.02.26 (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Al-Hol Emptying Out ---- Last week we reported on the exodus from the 
ISIS foreigners section of the al-Hol camp to the point of being nearly 
empty. Now it seems the camp as a whole, including the Iraqi and Syrian 
section are emptying since security at the camp has collapsed since the 
takeover of STG. There is little official information on where all the 
people have gone. It is likely some have moved to other parts of Syria, 
and that some have crossed illegally into Iraq and Turkey. STG is 
calling it an evacuation and says they are preparing the closure of the 
camp.

US Withdraws from Syria
The US has been present in Syria since the 2014 coalition against ISIS. 
Recently they left al-Tanf and Shaddadi bases, now they are also 
reported to be leaving Qasrik base near Heseke. The stated reason for 
this is that now the Syrian government is willing and able to take over 
"combating terrorists within its own borders". Through al-Sharaa, they 
are now able to extend their influence in the region through other 
methods than direct military involvement. At the same time, there are 
also US officials who are skeptical of the STG's ability to handle 
security risks of ISIS. Simultaneously, there is the question if this is 
not simply a re-distribution of troops closer to Iran, in case of a 
regime change there.

Damascus Starts Procedure Citizenship of "Unregistered" Kurds
A significant part of the Syrian Kurdish population has no citizenship 
or official papers. This stems from policy in 1962, during which many 
were stripped of citizenship and civil rights. The repercussions of this 
have severely limited prospects of life for many Kurds for decades. 
Damascus said they are now opening a bureaucratic procedure to grant 
this group citizenship again. There is careful optimism, with caution as 
to how this will work out in practice.

Return of IDPs to Afrin
A joint security delegation from NES and STG traveled to Afrin to assess 
the situation. There is a plan to start returning IDPs to their homes 
soon. Some families have previously traveled back on their own 
initiative. However some of these families have faced issues such as 
theft, kidnapping, torture, etc. This is the first attempt at a 
structured return with some security considerations.

Munich Security Conference
The attendance of Mazlum Abdi and Ilham Ahmed at the Munich Security 
Conference seems to have been directly facilitated by the US. Abdi and 
Ahmed were not part of the delegation from Damascus. There is 
speculation that the main reason for their presence was a diplomatic one 
to calm the US parliament, as part of US congress is uneasy with STG 
expansion and the US withdrawal, having the SDF and STG together at a 
high-level meeting in Munich presents a picture of successful integration.
There are no clear binding outcomes of the conference. Though the 
following interviews with Abdi and Ahmed respectively give an insight 
into their perspectives on it.

Abdi: 
https://www.theamargi.com/posts/the-amargi-exclusive-with-general-mazloum-abdi-did-munich-change-syrias-future
Ahmed: 
https://www.theamargi.com/posts/syrian-kurdish-leader-calls-for-constitutional-guarantees-to-prevent-renewed-fighting-in-syria-at-munich-security-conference

(A) Report from NES

https://organisemagazine.org.uk/2026/02/23/a-report-from-nes-16-22-02-26/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en