ISIS detainees escape Syria prison amid SDF handover to new forces
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Islamic State group militants on Monday escaped from a prison in eastern Syria 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 in Al-Shaddadi prison in Syria’s Hasakah province, after a ceasefire was established which, according to reports, did not progress quickly enough.
The ceasefire came after days of clashes, with Damascus accusing the SDF of dragging its feet on the security transfer, sources told Fox News Digital.
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had clearly signaled his impatience with Kurdish autonomy and told the SDF leadership that it was time to effectively disband.
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ISIS militants escaped from a Syrian prison during a chaotic transfer from Kurdish-led forces to government control at Al-Shaddadi prison. (Ali Hac Suleyman/Getty Images)
Under the integration agreement reached on Sunday, the SDF agreed to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces it has controlled for years.
The agreement also included responsibility for prisons holding ISIS detainees, which would later be transferred from the SDF to the Syrian government.
Before the ceasefire, the United States had worked with the SDF to move the worst of the worst foreign ISIS fighters to other, more secure Syrian prisons.
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A Kurdish-Syrian ceasefire led to an escape from an ISIS prison in eastern Syria when forces abandoned the Al-Shaddadi detention center during a security crossing, US officials confirmed.
Sources said there were previously fewer than 1,000 detainees in Al-Shaddadi prison, but there were only about 200 detainees when the complex transition took place on Monday.
Sources said that as SDF guards abandoned Al-Shaddadi prison and Syrian forces moved to take control, locals moved about 200 ISIS detainees out of the facility.
“Most of them were low-level local fighters, not experienced foreign fighters,” a well-placed source said.
The US military has also said it has been working closely with the SDF in recent months to relocate the most dangerous foreign ISIS detainees to more secure prisons ahead of a ceasefire.
It was said that US forces were following the developments closely as the transition process progressed.
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Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara had clearly signaled that he was impatient about Kurdish autonomy. (Washington Post via Salwan Georges/Getty Images)
A senior US official also told Fox News that most of the escaped prisoners were quickly rounded up and returned to the prison, which is now under Syrian government control.
According to reports, on Monday the Syrian army declared a complete curfew in the city of Shaddadi and launched extensive security operations to locate the remaining escapees.
US officials, meanwhile, confirmed that they were “increasing our presence by air, land and sea”, with the military monitoring the situation very closely.
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While a fleet of F-15 warplanes was repositioned, C-17 planes carrying heavy equipment also arrived in the region. USS Abraham Lincoln is expected to enter U.S. Central Command by January 25.
In Iraq, Kurdish protesters gathered at the US Consulate in Erbil were brought under control with reports that the demonstrators were standing on the walls.
