Al-Hawl

al-Hawl الهول
Town
Location of al-Hawl in Syria
Coordinates:
Country	Syria
Governorate	al-Hasakah
District	al-Hasakah
Subdistrict	al-Hawl
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2004)	3,409
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Geocode	C4519
Website	{{#property:P856}}

al-Hawl (Arabic: الهول‎, translit. al-Ḩawl, lit. '"swampland"'), also spelled al-Hol, al-Hool and al-Houl, is a town in eastern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria. It is administrative center of the al-Hawl Nahiya consisting of 22 municipalities.

At the 2004 census, the town had a population of 3,409.

During the Syrian Civil War, al-Hawl was seized and held under occupation by Islamic State forces. For both its strategic significance and its almost uniformly Arab population, it had become one of the major strongholds of the IS in northeastern Syria. On 13 November 2015, Al-Hawl was liberated by SDF forces, in what was considered the SDF's first strategic success, since its establishment by YPG and allied forces.

Geography

The town is located some 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of al-Hasakah, on the southern bank of the dried-out wadi ‘Aţā Allāh. While the wadi has dried out, the spring ‘Ayn al-Hawl, located south of the town, still carries water. Nearby villages include Sheikh Ma'ad with the Sheikh Ma‘ad shrine to the north, just across the wadi.

Infrastructure

North of the town is a significant road junction connecting the provincial capital with the Iraqi border. While the northeastern branch proceeds towards Tall Hamis and the Rabia border crossing, the southeastern branch towards the Sinjar mountains passes through the town southeastwards, reaching the Makhfar Umm Jaris border crossing after some 20 kilometres (12 mi).

The town is surrounded by military bases formerly used by the Syrian Army.

al-Hawl Refugee Camp

In early 1991, during the Gulf war, the UNHCR established a refugee camp on the southern outskirts of al-Hawl, which was operated in cooperation with the Syrian government Along with another camp in al-Hasakah, provided shelter to at least 15.000 refugees from Iraq. Following the 2003 Iraq War, the camp was later reopened as one of three camps at the Iraqi–Syrian border, when the US-occupied Iraq forcibly evicted thousands of Palestinians, including those who fled Kuwait at the 1991 Gulf War.

Syrian Civil War

In the course of the Eastern al-Hasakah offensive of Syrian Kurdish YPG, the occupying Islamic State militants were expelled from large swaths of eastern Hasakah, including Tell Hamis and Tell Brak. The southeastern Hasakah countryside around al-Hawl however remained one of the last ISIL strongholds in the province.

When in October 2015, Kurdish YPG and their multiethnic partners, including the Sunni Arab Shammar tribe's al-Sanadid Forces, joined forces to form the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), al-Sanadid leader Bandar al-Humaydi made it an "immediate priority to liberate al-Hawl and Ash Shaddadi from the Islamic State.”

In late October 2015, following the successful Battle of Hasakah, the SDF launched their al-Hawl offensive slowly advancing southwards from Tell Hamis. On 11 November they seized Khatuniyah and moved on around the lake further southwards to surround al-Hawl from both northeast and south on 12 November. On 13 November al-Hawl was liberated, in what was considered the SDF's first strategic success. In the following days, the SDF advanced further westwards to close the remaining ISIL-held pocket around the villages of Abu Hajirat Khuatana and Khuwaytilah.