Local Syrian sources told Al-Jazeera that Ghuwairan Central Prison in the countryside of Hasaka, in northeastern Syria, witnessed yesterday a rebellion carried out by ISIS operatives.
The sources added that the rebellion called for mobilization among the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, and the flight of aircraft for the international alliance, in addition to cutting the road between the cities of Hasaka and Al-Shaddadi.
The prison includes three thousand militants of the organization, and it is one of several prisons in which the SDF holds thousands of detainees.
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In turn, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces said that ISIS prisoners took control of the prison's ground floor, and that some of them managed to escape.
The spokesman, Mustafa Bali, added in a tweet on Twitter that the SDF began an operation to arrest the fugitives, while the security forces sent reinforcements to regain control of the prison.
Bali emphasized that the prisoners "broke the prison's internal walls and took off the interior doors."
Syrian television had previously reported that 12 of the so-called "militants" had escaped from the prison towards the southern outskirts of Hasaka.
In the same context, a spokesman for the US-led coalition confirmed that a prison revolt had taken place, which he said included no prominent members of the Islamic State.
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However, German news agency DPA quoted sources in Hasaka province as saying that among the fugitives are four ISIS commanders.
She said that dead and wounded members of the organization were killed during the storming of the prison by special forces, and that ambulances were seen heading to the area.
Reuters news agency quoted Arab tribal figures in contact with residents in the area as saying that coalition aircraft were seen flying overhead near the prison after the accident.
The agency added that some residents said that there were unconfirmed reports that several prisoners had been killed, in the latest attempt to escape from prisons subject to the SDF.
The US-based Human Rights Watch says that the SDF is holding about 12,000 men and boys suspected of belonging to the Islamic State, and between two and four thousand foreigners from about fifty countries.
The organization said that prisoners are held "in overcrowded prisons and in many inhumane conditions".