At Least 120 Killed, Jihadists Freed, in ISIS Prison Attack in Syria

At least 120 people, including some civilians, have been killed in battles between members of the Islamic State or ISIS and US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria as fighting went into the fourth day on Sunday over an attack by members of the Islamic State on a Kurdish-run prison holding thousands of jihadist inmates.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that some 100 Islamic State members raided a Kurdish-run prison in Hasakeh, Syria holding about 3,500 ISIS jihadists, freeing many of the ISIS prisoners and seizing weapons stored at the prison. Prison guards and other prison employees have been killed or are being held by jihadists, according to the monitor. Hundreds of ISIS prisoners escaped on the first day of the takeover; many have been recaptured but dozens remain on the lam, according to the monitor, as Kurdish forces on the scene continued to work to restore calm on Sunday.

It is not clear whether the prison attack was part of a coordinated operation with an attack on a military base in neighboring Iraq, or the action of a local ISIL cell. This prison attack could be part of a new resurgence of the Islamic State in the area, according to reports. Kurdish-run prisons in Syria are holding some 12,000 Islamic State suspects.

The Islamic State controlled areas of Syria and Iraq until it was driven out between 2017 and 2019 in part by US-led coalition forces.