Inside densely packed dormitories, meager bodies cling to most of them, some lying on themselves, others lying on the ground, and an orange uniform covering the bodies of all those prisoners of ISIS, who terrorized the world until a few months ago.

The prison, located in the eastern province of al-Hasakah, where Agence France-Presse was able to visit on Saturday, for three hours, 5000 suspects belonging to the organization, under the supervision of the «Syrian Democratic Forces», who spearheaded the defeat in Syria, supported From the US-led international coalition.

They are unaware of what is happening outside the walls around them, according to the custodians, who ask not to ask questions about the events.

"Never communicate with them abroad," says the prison official, who only identifies himself as Serhat.

They did not know, according to Serhat, the Turkish attack against the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, and the subsequent political and field variables, including the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces from large border areas.

Consequently, they are unlikely to know that their leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed at dawn on Sunday in a US operation in northwestern Syria.

The detainees are of different nationalities, Arab, European and Asian, «from France, Britain, Belgium, Germany, the United States and others», according to the prison official.

"I want to leave the prison and go back to my country and my family. I want to go back to Britain," says the short, thin young man who came to Syria five years ago to join his brother Nasser.

His brother, aged 21, is said to have been killed in Mosul, northern Iraq, and then moved to Raqqa in northern Syria. "I wish I had done something else, if I hadn't come," he adds with a bit of sorrow. Detainees have not seen the sun for months. "They see the sun only if we take them from the cells to the hospital," Sarhat said. "Before the Turkish aggression, we were preparing a playground for them for exercise and rehabilitation workshops, but now all this has stopped.

These are dangerous

The prison corridors, cut by doors made of green iron bars, are quiet on both sides of the corridors.

A guard, with a black mask on his face, opens a window. Inside you can't even see the earth from overcrowding. Men in oil-colored sweaters under an orange uniform, stacked here, lying or sitting, including many wounded.

On the walls of the cells, bags of bread were hung, and in their corners bathrooms were closed with pieces of cloth.

Every time a window of an iron door opens, some inside gather together near the door, taking a look at the outside, or looking at visitors. In one cell, one rushes to bring a bearded young man who wears a diaper in the severity of the disease, for journalists to see.

In front of a cell, a guard hesitates to approach, saying, “These are dangerous.” In this dormitory, one riot occurred, says Serhat.

About a month ago, while the prison guards were distributing food, they found one of the detainees lying on the floor, and the prisoners told them he was very ill and on the verge of death.The guards entered to pick him up, and the prisoners attacked them, according to Sarhat, who explained: `` Our forces quickly intervened and it ended. ''

In this cell, everyone remained seated on the floor when the little energy was opened.

"Sometimes they knock at the doors, they fight a lot about everything, even for mattresses, and sometimes they do that to get us to intervene in an attempt to escape," says a guard, who asked not to be named.

During the tour, one of them knocked strongly one of the doors, the guard opens the net and asks from inside the water, minutes later another knock and demand this time medicines.

At one time, extremist elements control the fate of seven million people over an area of ​​more than 240,000 square kilometers between Syria and Iraq, which they seized in 2014.

Insurgents terrorized their areas of control, imposing a strict and intimidating application of their extremist ideas, beheading, kidnapping, and abusing women.

In March 2019, the SDF announced the defeat of ISIS in Syria after Iraqi government forces defeated ISIS in Iraq, and both sides received decisive support from an international coalition led by Washington.

Currently, 12,000 ISIS operatives are in Syrian prisons, including 2,500 to 3,000 foreigners from 54 countries. Thousands of them were arrested during the recent battle against ISIS in the eastern town of Baghouz.

The Kurds are calling on the countries concerned to return their nationals in their custody, or to establish an international tribunal to try the militants, but most countries, especially Europeans, refuse. With the start of the Turkish offensive, the SDF renewed its fear that its departure to counter it would be reflected in its efforts to pursue ISIS cells and ensure the security of the detainees. The attack was suspended on October 23, after Ankara took control of a large border area.

Guarding the prison during that period, according to Serhat, after sending dozens of troops to support their colleagues on the front lines, and points to a shortage of medicines, which has become a priority for the wounded civilians and military personnel.

1500 injured and sick

At the prison hospital, a large cell, more than 300 injured and sick people lay on the floor.

The guards are handing over medical masks to the AFP team to prevent the spread of diseases or odor, despite the existing fans to withdraw them.

One can be seen with his leg amputated, another in a wheelchair, and another walking on crutches, while many have their heads, feet or hands tied. A protrusion has emerged in the bones of their bodies.

Some sleep on the few beds available, the majority on the floor, along with small medicine boxes with the ICRC logo.

Abdallah Noman, 24, from Belgium, points to his stomach, from which the left side appears to be tightly rounded. "My organs are out of my body," he says. He was wounded, he said, after an ISIS fighter mistakenly shot him in Deir Ezzor. Noman has been suffering for years and has not been properly treated, causing his health to deteriorate until he is suffering from diabetes, he said.

At around 2pm, someone puts his crutches aside and stands up to raise the call to prayer. Others quickly start praying, but without moving from their places.

The prison official explained that among the prisoners about 1500 injured or sick, referring to many cases of amputation, 50 cases of hepatitis, and two cases of AIDS.

Let me be executed

The so-called "organization cubs", boys as young as 16, are housed in a private cell. They come from Asian, Arab and foreign countries.

There is one adult, an orthopedic surgeon, who, like most of the detainees in prison, remained with ISIS until the last days of the Baghuz.

Khaled (from Kyrgyzstan) takes his head out of the window, looks around and laughs with the guard who asks him to organize his colleagues. "Go back," he says. "He is only nine years old. He has lost his parents."

Next to him is a 13-year-old Tunisian boy who says that all he is waiting for is to get out of here, after he also lost his family in the bombing.

Bassem Abdel Azim, 42, a Dutch national and father of five, misses his wife, whom he says is Mandy Spike. He got out of Baghouz eight months ago and has been unable to walk on his right leg since he was injured in a raid in the city of Raqqa.

"I just want to tell her I'm sorry I brought her to a place of war, she didn't know. I told her we were going to Turkey, I don't want her to be punished. It's my fault," he says. I meet my wife and then take me to death. ''

• At one time, extremist elements controlled the fates of seven million people over an area of ​​more than 240,000 square kilometers between Syria and Iraq, which they seized in 2014.

• The Kurds call on the states concerned to return their nationals in their custody, or to establish an international tribunal to try the militants. But most countries, especially Europeans, reject this.