British Jihadist Remains Defiant as Fears of an ISIS Resurgence Grow in Syria

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With a power vacuum in Syria and little international will to repatriate jihadists, Kurdish forces warn that Islamic State could regain strength by breaking out prisoners like Hamza Parvez. As a masked guard opened a slot in the door and called for the British detainee, the air outside the cell filled with a foul stench. Hamza Parvez stepped forward, complaining about his meager hygiene supplies—a small bar of soap and a worn towel.  

 

 

Once known as "Hungry Hamza," the 31-year-old from west London was among the first Britons to join ISIS in 2014. He gained notoriety through social media, where he posted not only recruitment videos urging fellow Britons to join but also reviews of fast-food restaurants under the so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq.  

 

 

When The Times visited his cell this week in Syria’s al-Hasakah prison—a facility that exclusively holds former ISIS fighters—Parvez appeared gaunt. He described his treatment as “genocide,” complaining that he had been using the same blanket and pillow for years. However, he acknowledged that his conditions were far better than those endured by the prisoners tortured and executed by ISIS during what he once called “the golden era of jihad” between 2014 and 2019.

 

 

The extremist group, once promising its followers an apocalyptic caliphate, has been reduced to small bands of fighters hiding in the Syrian desert. However, experts warn that the group’s best chance at resurgence lies in breaking out detainees like Parvez and rebuilding its ranks—something the heavily armed guards of al-Hasakah prison are determined to prevent.  

 

Parvez stopped short of renouncing ISIS, instead suggesting that the group had made errors in its approach. “They wanted to take a very hard stance,” he said. “They wanted to scare the world.” He admitted, “We definitely made mistakes. Here in the Middle East, unfortunately, they are not the most organised … I don’t want to lie. It’s not easy to say I don’t believe in the Islamic State. It’s an organisation. But the foundations of Islam, I believe in them.”  

 

At al-Hasakah, approximately 4,500 prisoners are held behind multiple layers of blast walls and razor wire. Most are kept in isolation, with cells holding 15 to 20 men. They are allowed about 45 minutes of outdoor exercise each day. Guards instruct journalists not to discuss current affairs with the inmates, preferring to keep them in the dark. Parvez, for instance, appeared unaware that the overthrow of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December had reignited discussions about the fate of foreign ISIS fighters and the thousands of women and children still held in separate detention camps.  

 

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which defeated ISIS in 2019 with Western support, now controls eastern Syria and oversees these prison facilities. The SDF has repeatedly urged foreign governments to take back their citizens for trial or establish an international court, but most nations prefer to strip their citizenship and leave them imprisoned in Syria. With Assad gone, the SDF fears ISIS could use the resulting instability to regain a foothold in Syria. The new regime in Damascus, led by former al-Qaeda commander Ahmed al-Sharaa, insists it can secure the prisons.

 

However, doubts remain about whether hardliners within his ranks—many of whom resent his failure to implement Islamic law—could be swayed by the extremist ideology of the prisoners they are supposed to guard.  

 

In his headquarters in al-Hasakah, SDF commander General Mazloum Abdi warned that ISIS is already exploiting the security vacuum left by Assad’s downfall. His forces, which drove ISIS from its de facto capital of Raqqa and defeated them at their last stronghold in Baghuz in 2019, remain on high alert. “There is a security vacuum. In the desert, Daesh has been able to secure locations and weapons,” Abdi said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS. “And we know their primary goal is the cities.” He added that ISIS has begun infiltrating urban areas.  

 

Abdi noted that the new Syrian administration is attempting to accommodate international demands for inclusivity. However, this runs counter to its base, which adheres to Salafism and jihadist ideology. “The direction now is towards imposing [non-Islamic] civil law and Daesh is exploiting this” by appealing to radical hardliners, he said.  

 

Critics, including some terrorism analysts, argue that the SDF and the US may be overstating the ISIS threat to justify maintaining control over northeastern Syria’s oil-rich regions while negotiating a federal arrangement with the central government. They also point out that the SDF has long faced opposition from Turkish-backed militias that reject Kurdish autonomy. However, the SDF, which claims it lost 13,000 soldiers fighting ISIS, strongly refutes these claims.  

 

US-led airstrikes, including multiple attacks coinciding with Assad’s ouster on December 8, have significantly weakened ISIS, according to two Western counterterrorism officials. However, intelligence suggests the group is quietly planning its next move. The US is reportedly considering a withdrawal of its troops from Syria, but Abdi, who maintains close ties with the American military, said he has not been informed of any such plans.  

 

“There are a lot of discussions in ISIS circles about assassinating Sharaa. So they could be quiet because they’re trying to plan along those lines,” said Aaron Zelin, a jihadist expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He noted that the absence of ISIS attacks over the Christmas period might indicate strategic planning rather than a loss of capability.  

 

A mass prison breakout could change everything. In 2022, ISIS orchestrated a major attack on al-Hasakah prison, detonating car bombs outside the facility while inmates staged an uprising inside. The ensuing battle lasted a week before SDF and US forces regained control. Since then, prisoners have been transferred to a more secure building within the complex.  

 

Beyond breaking out fighters, ISIS also aims to free the women and children held in SDF-administered camps, which are largely funded by US foreign aid. The largest, al-Hawl, holds nearly 40,000 people. The US has warned that it cannot continue funding the camps indefinitely. Al-Hawl’s director, Jihan Hasan, has voiced concerns over potential disaster if funding is cut. “At the end, the whole world is concerned with al-Hawl,” Hasan said. “The burden shouldn’t be on the [SDF’s] autonomous administration.”  

 

While Iraq has begun repatriating some of its citizens, most Western nations have only taken back a handful of detainees, leaving thousands of women and children in limbo. The SDF has attempted to send children to rehabilitation centers where they learn languages and music, but space is limited. Critics have also accused the SDF of separating children from their mothers.  

 

During a recent tour of the al-Hawl camp in an armored vehicle, children pelted the car with stones and chanted the ISIS slogan “baqiya”—meaning “it remains” in Arabic. One child climbed onto the vehicle’s bumper and raised his index finger in a sign of allegiance to the group, while his mother looked on.  

 

“The last time there was unrest in the camp, they were telling the guards: ‘Soon you will be the ones in the camp, and we will be the ones detaining you,’” said an SDF counterterrorism official.  

 

ISIS, he warned, sees these children as a future army. “You can’t defeat an ideological jihadist group only using combat.”

 

Based on a report by The Times  2025-02-18