ISIS official accused of planning detention attacks killed in raid, Centcom says

More than 10,000 ISIS fighters, wives and children are detained in Syria

US paratroopers board an aircraft bound for the Centcom area of operations in the Middle East, from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in June 2021. EPA

Follow the latest on the earthquake in Turkey and Syria

A February 10 operation by the US Central Command (Centcom) resulted in the seizure of "multiple weapons, ammo and a suicide belt", as well as the death of an ISIS leader.

"We can confirm Ibrahim Al Qahtani, an ISIS official associated with planning ISIS detention centre attacks, was killed in the raid," Centcom said in a tweet.

More than 10,000 ISIS member and the wives and children of ISIS fighters remain detained in camps in north-west Syria.

At least 20 ISIS fighters have escaped a jail holding mostly ISIS group members following a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6.

The military police prison in the town of Rajo near the Turkish border holds about 2,000 inmates, with about 1,300 of them suspected to be ISIS fighters, a source at the facility told AFP.

The prison also holds fighters from Kurdish-led forces.

"After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison," said the official at Rajo jail, which is controlled by pro-Turkish factions.

"About 20 prisoners fled ... who are believed to be [ISIS] militants."

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said it could not verify whether prisoners had escaped, but confirmed there was a mutiny.

So far more than 40,000 people were killed in the earthquake across Turkey and Syria.