U.S. repatriates a child from sprawling camp in northeastern Syria holding families of ISIS fighters

The United States has repatriated an American child separated from their family from a sprawling camp in northeastern Syria that houses tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the State Department said Tuesday.

The department estimates that some 30,000 people from 70 countries remain in al-Hol Camp and one other similar camp, most of them wives and children of ISIS fighters as well as supporters of the extremist group. They include Iraqis as well as nationals of Western countries who traveled to join the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist group.

Human rights groups for years have cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the al-Hol camp, which the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have administered for years. The SDF are Washington’s key ally in combating ISIS in Syria and its sleeper cells, and for years have run large swaths of northeastern Syria.

Read more: CBS News