Islamic State group militants escaped from a prison in eastern Syria on Monday amid a chaotic transfer of control between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government, according to US officials and regional sources.
The incident took place at Al-Shaddadi prison in Syria’s Hasakah province following a ceasefire that reports said had not been achieved quickly enough.
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had publicly shown his impatience with Kurdish autonomy, effectively telling the SDF leadership that it was time to disband.
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ISIS militants escape from a Syrian prison during a chaotic transfer from Kurdish-led forces to government control at Al-Shaddadi prison. (Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
Under an integration deal reached on Sunday, the SDF also agreed to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces it had controlled for years.
The deal then included responsibility for prisons holding ISIS prisoners that would be transferred from the SDF to the Syrian government.
The US had worked with the SDF before the ceasefire to move ISIS’s worst foreign fighters to other, more secure Syrian prisons.
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The Kurdish-Syrian ceasefire led to a breakout from the ISIS prison in eastern Syria as troops left the Al-Shaddadi detention center during the security transition, US officials confirmed.
Sources said there were previously fewer than 1,000 prisoners in Al-Shaddadi prison, but there were only about 200 when the messy transition took place on Monday.
As SDF guards left Al-Shaddadi prison and Syrian troops moved to take control, local residents freed about 200 ISIS prisoners from prison, sources said.
“Most of these were low-level local fighters, rather than hardened foreign fighters,” a well-placed source explained.
The US military also said it had worked closely with the SDF in recent months to move the most dangerous ISIS foreign prisoners to more secure prisons before the ceasefire.
US forces were also said to be closely monitoring developments as the transition unfolded.
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Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had publicly expressed his impatience with Kurdish autonomy. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
On Monday, the Syrian army imposed a total curfew in the city of Shaddadi and launched large-scale security operations to locate the remaining refugees, reports showed.
Meanwhile, US officials confirmed they were “strengthening our presence by air, land and sea,” with the military closely monitoring the situation.
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A squadron of F-15 fighter jets was repositioned and C-17 aircraft carrying heavy equipment arrived in the area. The USS Abraham Lincoln is expected to enter the U.S. Central Command area on January 25.
In Iraq, Kurdish protesters were also contained after they gathered at the US consulate in Erbil, with reports of demonstrators standing on walls.
