Al-Hol, located in a desert region of Hasakeh province, is Syria's largest camp housing the relatives of suspected IS fighters.

Last month, the government took over the camp from the Kurdish administration which had long handled it, as the Kurds ceded territory and Damascus extended its control across swathes of Syria's northeast.

Since then, thousands of family members of foreign jihadists have left that camp for unknown destinations. The facility had housed some 24,000 people, mostly Syrians but also Iraqis and more than 6,000 other foreigners of around 40 nationalities.

Fadi al-Qassem, the official appointed by the government with managing Al-Hol's affairs, told AFP that "we carried out an evaluation of the camp's needs and found the camp lacks the basic conditions for habitation, so we made an urgent decision" to move residents to camps in Aleppo province.

Al-Hol camp "will be fully evacuated within a week, and nobody will remain", he said, adding that "the evacuation started today".

A government source told AFP on condition of anonymity that "the emergencies and disaster management ministry is working now to evacuate Al-Hol camp" and take residents to a camp in Akhtarin, in the north of Aleppo province.

Vehicles carrying camp residents have already departed for Aleppo province, the source added.