Armed attack by Islamic State fighters dressed as women in Al-Hol Camp in North and East Syria

HASAKAH, Syria — Al-Hol Camp, perhaps the most dangerous camp housing former members of the Islamic State and their families in North and East Syria, has witnessed another in a series of attacks indicative of the overwhelming security needs of the camp.

Located east of Hasakah city, the camp of 67,000 people contains a segregated section for women and children with links to the Islamic State.

On Thursday, male members of the Islamic State dressed as women conducted an armed attack from inside the camp. At least three people in a section of the camp for Iraqi refugees were injured.

According to security authorities, the armed attack was planned from inside the camp. After security forces were alerted of the attack, a total of six members of the Islamic State were arrested inside the camp. Security forces were still investigating how the group had smuggled weapons into the camp.

Al-Hol has recently seen a number of highly publicized cases of smuggling, both successful and not.

In July, Turkey announced that it had “rescued” a Moldovan woman and her children from Al-Hol.

Not long after, an attempt to smuggle a Chechen woman and several others from the camp in the back of an empty water tanker was uncovered by camp security. The woman told investigators that the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) was being used by Turkish authorities to smuggle women out of the camp.