Shamima Begum is one of those in a Kurdish-control camp (Image: Getty)
Britain faces an even bigger terror threat if jihadi camps are abandoned because of the Syrian civil war reigniting, a former spy chief has warned.
Sir Alex Younger, who ran MI6 for almost six years, said “many, many” ISIS fighters and their families are being held by Kurdish forces in eastern Syria.
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Rebel forces stunned dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime by launching a surprise attack, claiming the city of Aleppo within days and pressing on towards Hams.
But Russian and Syrian war planes bombed insurgents on Monday, with Iranian militias said to have arrived in the country, prompting fears of another major civil war.
Rebel forces are pressing into Syria (Image: Getty)
Rebel forces have stunned Bashar al-Assad and his allies (Image: Getty)
Sir Alex warned of a “power vacuum” in the region if the West withdraws support, adding that ISIS bride Shamima Begum, as well as other battle-hardened British jihadis, are among those being held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in north east Syria.
Sir Alex told BBC radio: “There is a key operational issue for the UK which is going to be driving a lot of our policy which is that the SDF, the Kurdish group, are holding many, many ISIS prisoners and their families who were taken after the end of the caliphate.”
Pressed whether it was people like jihadi bride Ms Begum, he added: “Exactly, and the camps represent a hotbed of radicalisation and haven’t been sorted out.
“If the SDF were to go off the job, our security situation here would worsen.
“So, I’m sure a big part of our policy is just making sure at least the eastern part of Syria remains stable.”
Syrian and Russian air forces were striking rebel-held positions in Aleppo’s eastern countryside, killing and wounding dozens of insurgents, according to a statement from the Syrian Prime Minister’s office on Monday.
Britain America, Germany and France all called for de-escalation “by all parties”.
But Russian fighter jets bombed rebel positions in the Idlib, Hama and Aleppo provinces.
Captain Oleg Ignasyuk, who is in charge of the Russian forces in Syria, said that Russian bombing runs had killed 320 rebels and destroyed 63 pieces of equipment.
Iran has vowed to support dictator Bashar al-Assad, with Iranian-backed militias already said to have arrived in the country to reinforce Government forces.
And China said it “supports Syria’s efforts to maintain national security and stability” after a rebel offensive saw government forces lose control of Aleppo.
The attacks by Assad forces and allies came after a coalition of rebel groups, led by hardline Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, gained control of the northern city of Aleppo and other territory.
Sir Alex was in charge of MI6 from 2014 to 2020, a period which saw the rise of Islamic State and the Syrian civil war escalate.
The former spy boss slammed the “merciless brutality” of the Assad regime and welcomed “any setback” to it.
He added: “So, no I do not want him back in charge of Aleppo.
“Equally, you cannot pretend that a hardline Islamist group, albeit one that is trying to moderate its image, represents a great future either.”
Many other groups are competing for influence in Syria, he added.
Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, warned of the fall of the Kurdish camps (Image: PA)
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“It seems to me it’s more likely that we are seeing a reignition of the civil war and the conflict in all its dimensions,” he stressed.
Begum, who went to Syria as a schoolgirl to join Islamic State, is believed to be still living in the al-Roj detention camp in the country’s north east.
She is effectively stateless as her British passport was removed.
Begum left London in 2015 aged 15 and travelled with two other school friends from Bethnal Green to Syria, where she married an IS fighter and gave birth to three children, all of whom died as infants.
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The British government took away Begum’s citizenship on national security grounds in 2019, shortly after she was found in a detention camp in Syria.
Begum, now 25, argued the decision was unlawful, in part because British officials failed to properly consider whether she was a victim of trafficking, an argument that was rejected by a specialist tribunal in February 2023 and then the Court of Appeal.
Judges at the UK’s Supreme Court said she could not appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling as the grounds of her case “do not raise an arguable point of law”.