Syria's Interior Ministry on Tuesday said about 120 ISIS inmates had escaped from Shaddadi prison after fierce clashes between the army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The ministry said Syrian army units and special forces entered Shaddadi, in Hasakah province, after the jailbreak. It said security forces had recaptured 81 of the escapees after search-and-sweep operations in the town and surrounding areas, with efforts continuing to arrest the remaining fugitives.
SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told Kurdish TV channel Rudaw that more than 1,500 prisoners had escaped from the jail in north-eastern Syria. Both sides exchanged blame for allowing the extremists to leave the prison, which had been under SDF control.
ISIS cells are understood to be active in Syria, with the ability to launch lethal attacks. Prisons in Syria holding suspected members and their families have until now been under SDF control but recent instability in the area has raised concerns. The SDF has warned that ISIS may seek to exploit the situation.
The reported escape of ISIS fighters is worrying diplomats.
“This is a big concern for us,” a western diplomat told The National. He added that the ISIS issue in north-east Syria, where thousands of fighters and their families are held in camps and prisons, remains a primary issue. “This is why we have the coalition,” he said.
The US-led international coalition was created as part of an effort in 2014 to degrade the group, which was rapidly gaining ground in Syria and Iraq. US President Donald Trump has made the fight against the terrorist group one of his main conditions of support as he re-engaged with the new Syrian government.
Last year, Syria joined the international coalition and its effort to contain ISIS – whose sleeper cells remain a threat despite having defeated in Syria in 2017 – in a major diplomatic shift.
For expert Cedric Labrousse, the ISIS file has been exploited by the government and the SDF to gain international support. “They’re all playing with ISIS trauma,” he said. “They know it’s going to gain international attention, so both try to deflect responsibility to the other camp.
For the SDF, it’s a way to "reinforce the narrative that Ahmad Al Shara, a former Al Nusra commander, has not changed, and that he and his forces are still jihadists", said the expert. As for the government, "they want to show that the SDF is not the trustworthy ally the West thought it was".
The Syrian Information Ministry on Monday dismissed warnings and an announcement by the Kurdish administration of an escape attempt at Al Hol camp, which holds thousands of ISIS members and their families. The ministry said the Kurdish leaders' statement featured "a number of fallacies and accusations aimed at misleading international public opinion and creating confusion".
Despite a ceasefire being announced by President Al Shara, clashes between the army and the SDF are persisting.
After Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, convoys of Syrian forces were sent on Monday to Hasakah. Under the agreement, Hasakah civilian institutions are to be integrated into Syria’s central government. Syrian forces have yet to take control of the province or advance deep into the city.
The fighting has also sparked fears in neighbouring Iraq of an ISIS resurgence and infiltration across the border. Shiite cleric and former militia leader Moqtada Al Sadr called on the government to send reinforcements to the frontier.
Iraqis' memories are still vivid of when thousands of extremists crossed from Syria after the 2003 US-led invasion, which was followed by years of sectarian killings. The biggest onslaught came in mid-2014 and ended with ISIS controlling much of northern and western Iraq, unleashing a conflict lasting nearly four years.
Iraq is “monitoring and following the events in Syria”, Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari told the state news agency late on Monday.
He said the Iraqi-Syrian border is “fully secured and reinforced” with a 620km trench, concrete walls, thermal cameras and drones.
“Our forces on the border are sufficient, are fully equipped and are supported by the Army Aviation and the Air Force,” he said. “Any approach to the Iraqi border will be met with gunfire."
Early on Tuesday, Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces, a government-backed umbrella group of paramilitary troops comprising mainly Iran-backed militias, announced the arrest of an ISIS leader who infiltrated from Syria.
The PMF described the militant, who was arrested in Mosul’s desert in north-western Iraq, as a “dangerous ISIS leader who is considered one of the prominent field leaders”.
He was responsible for “overseeing ISIS operations in Mosul’s desert and Syria, planning attacks and co-ordinating sleeper cells,” it added.
ISIS had controlled large swathes of territory in Syria and neighbouring Iraq following a lightning 2014 offensive. The group was later defeated and pushed out of nearly all areas it had held, but sporadic attacks have continued.
