Intense fighting continues in the region after IS militants attacked a Kurdish-secured prison in northeastern Syria to kidnap prisoners.
Kurdish-led forces, supported by US airstrikes, have been clashing with IS militants in the city of Hasaka since Thursday.
ISIS’s attack on Ghwayran Prison is one of the group’s biggest attacks since its defeat in Syria three years ago.
According to data cited by a monitoring group, around 3,500 ISIS members, including some of the organization’s leaders, are in this prison.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said hundreds of IS members were recaptured after the attack, but some are still on the run.
Kurdish security forces are besieging the prison, fighting for control of the surrounding areas. Neighborhood residents are leaving their homes.
At least 39 Kurdish security forces and at least 77 ISIS members have been killed in the events that took place inside and outside the prison since the beginning of the attack, according to the AFP news agency citing data from the Syrian Observatory.
In a video released on January 22, ISIS claimed that many of its members had been released. In the footage, it is seen that ISIS is holding a large number of hostages.
The US Department of Defense (Pentagon) also confirmed its support for the conflict with air strikes.
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price praised the efforts of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in a statement.
Some residents, speaking to Reuters, said that support for ISIS has increased due to the unrest between the Kurdish-led administration and the Arab population, which they accuse of discrimination. The SDG denies this.
Thousands of IS militants from more than 50 countries are being held in Kurdish prisons in northeastern Syria.
‘A reminder that ISIS is still a threat’
Quentin Sommerville, BBC Middle East Correspondent
For years, ISIS members and their spouses envisioned this scenario: a mass escape from prisons in Syria.
‘Because they were British citizens in the past’Beatles cell‘, two ISIS militants, Alexanda Kotey and Al Shafi al-Sheikh, talked about their dreams of escaping from prison by a garbage truck full of explosives in an interview with them at the prison.
A petrol tanker may have been used instead of a garbage truck in this latest attack in northeastern Syria. This is not IS’s first attempt at a prison escape in the region. The last one was held in Derik in 2019. US air forces were used to end this event. But airstrikes may not be an option this time, given the hostages captured by ISIS members.
British and other European jihadists are also held in this prison.
The wives of ISIS militants held in the concentration camps in the region, during the visits to the camps, hoped that they would one day meet again with their spouses, whom they said would be freed in prisons.
ISIS flourished in 2012 with its “Breaking Walls” campaign against prison escapes in Iraq. This campaign was a founding milestone that could be a turning point for the group.
The escape from Hasaka prison is unlikely to have the same effect. ISIS has lost a lot of power in the region. But this latest attempt is a reminder that the group is still a threat and can carry out assertive attacks.