ISLAMIC STATE JAILBREAK IN SYRIA LEAVE AT LEAST 70 DEAD

Sat 22 January 2022:

A monitor said fighting between the Islamic State group and Kurdish forces in Syria raged for a third day Saturday after IS raided a prison housing jihadists, claiming over 70 casualties.

The assault on the Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh is one of IS’s most significant since its “caliphate” was declared defeated in Syria nearly three years ago.

“At least 28 members of the Kurdish security forces, five civilians and 45 members of IS have been killed” in the violence, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

More than 100 Islamic State militants assaulted the main prison holding suspected extremists, sparking a battle with US-backed Kurdish fighters that continued for a third day Saturday left dozens dead.

تجدد الاشتباكات بين تنظيم الدولة و #قسد في #الحسكة.. ماذا يحصل؟

تقرير: نور الدين رمضان#تلفزيون_سوريا pic.twitter.com/fN5ANFVYSJ

— تلفزيون سوريا (@syr_television) January 22, 2022

IS launched the attack on Thursday night against the prison housing some 3,500 suspected members of the jihadist group, including some of its leaders, said the Observatory.

Hundreds of jihadist inmates had since been detained and around 10 were believed to have escaped, said the Observatory, a Britain-based monitor that relies on sources inside war-torn Syria for its information.

“The exceptional situation continues in and around the prison,” said Farhad Shami, spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The fighting on Saturday morning was taking place north of the prison, he added.

🔶Clashes renewed in Al-Zhour neighborhood and vicinity of Ghweran Prison, south of Hasaka

🌎https://t.co/H3PMjetNm8 pic.twitter.com/Sjodw8rHjt

— Hawar English (@enhawarnews) January 22, 2022

Gweiran holds some 5,000, including IS commanders and figures considered among the most dangerous, according to Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

The forces’ commander Mazloum Abadi said IS mobilised “most of its sleeper cells” to organise the jailbreak.

The militants, armed with heavy machine guns and vehicles rigged with explosives, attacked on Thursday evening, aiming to free their comrades, Shami said.

🔶#ISIS mercenaries use civilians as Human Shields pic.twitter.com/OOE3XAzKaQ

— Hawar English (@enhawarnews) January 21, 2022

The fighting started with a large explosion around 7 pm, followed by two more blasts later, said one resident whose home overlooks the area.

Prisoners inside the facility rioted and tried to break out simultaneously as a car bomb went off outside and gunmen clashed with security forces, Shami said.

A car bomb hit a nearby petroleum depot, sparking a fire that still burned on Friday.

Last updates from #Hasakah pic.twitter.com/wEdGlz1RVi

— Baderkhan Ahmad (@baderkhanahmad) January 22, 2022

“Since yesterday, helicopters are always in the sky,” said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety.

Civilians were fleeing Zuhour, and shops were closed across Hassakeh as security forces fanned out, he said.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday the US used airstrikes to support the SDF in the prison break attack.

“We have provided some airstrikes to support them as they deal with this particular prison break,” Kirby said, adding that the US recognises that the IS threat is not gone, and “we remain focused on that”.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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