Syria: Kurdish forces regain "full control" of Hassaké prison

Members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fan out outside Ghwayran prison in the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh on January 26, 2022, after it was taken over by Kurdish forces.

AFP - -

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Kurdish forces claim to have regained control of Hassaké prison on Wednesday, attacked last Thursday by jihadists.

The fighting lasted six days and reportedly claimed more than 180 lives.

Most would be assailants or prisoners, ex-members of the Islamic State (IS) group.

Advertising

Read more

Kurdish forces released footage of prisoners surrendering.

A long line of men, most of them in orange pants, a garment usually worn by prison inmates. 

The resumption of "full control" of the prison came after the jihadists who carried out the

last Thursday surrendered, said the spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and spearhead of the fight against ISIS in Syria.

The jihadists had taken refuge in the last few hours in dormitories.

More than 1,000 of them who were detained or who infiltrated during the prison raid have surrendered to Kurdish forces since January 20, according to the SDF and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. man (OSDH).

Terror in the city of Hassaké, civilians killed

The 

, carried out with the support of American soldiers from the international anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington, lasted six days.

They killed 181 people, including 124 jihadists, 50 Kurdish fighters and seven civilians, reports the OSDH again.

The attack also sowed terror in the city of Hassaké, located in northeastern Syria.

According to the UN, it forced some 45,000 people who lived in areas near Ghwayran prison to flee in freezing weather.

Some displaced people have taken refuge in a mosque in the city while jihadists have taken refuge in their homes.

Towards the resurgence of the IS group

The coordinated attack between more than a hundred mutineers inside the prison and men from outside is the largest carried out since the fall of the Islamic State organization in 2019 in Syria.

Truck bombs and heavy weapons were used in the assault.

Evidence that dormant cells are still active and potentially harmful.

Experts see this jihadist assault as a step towards the resurgence of the IS group, which retreated to the Syrian desert after its territorial defeat in Syria in 2019 and in neighboring Iraq in 2017. An unknown number of jihadists would have reached to escape since Thursday's assault.

►

This crisis has also revealed the problem of detention centers where jihadists, many of whom are foreigners, are locked up.

Hassaké prison housed at least 3,500 jihadists of different nationalities and hundreds of minors, according to the UN and human rights organizations.

Overcrowded centers that the Kurds have a hard time managing.

They regularly demand the repatriation of prisoners to their countries of origin. 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Syria

• IS

• Kurds

• Terrorism