A report in Defense One said that the US-led anti-ISIS coalition is funding a significant expansion of a large detention facility in northeastern Syria to deal with captured foreign and local fighters.
The American magazine said that this effort would double the size of the current facility in Hasakah, a chain of three converted school buildings housing nearly 5,000 prisoners, according to British Army Major General Kevin Cobsey, the coalition's deputy commander for strategic affairs.
She indicated that the temporary prisons are managed by America's Kurdish partners, the "Syrian Democratic Forces" supported by the coalition, to whom the international coalition has provided them over the years with funding and support to enhance their security.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense confirmed that his country is financing this project in Al-Hasakah, which Copsey described as a "huge expansion."
Once complete, he added, the now overcrowded and dilapidated facility would meet Red Cross standards.
Military officials have warned since the fall of the areas - which was controlled by the organization in 2017 - that the Syrian Democratic Forces will not be able to maintain the prisons indefinitely and that the experienced fighters could flee the dilapidated facilities and return to the battlefield.
Although Britain is funding this particular expansion effort, the United States also has a budget for security improvements in prison facilities aimed primarily at strengthening external security and intelligence.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the effort included "technical advice and financing for the renewal and expansion of the" facility "as part of the collective efforts of the international coalition to achieve stability in the region.
General Paul Calvert, commander of the US-led mission, said that although Britain is funding this particular expansion effort, the United States also has a budget for security improvements in prison facilities that are primarily aimed at strengthening external security and intelligence.
The magazine indicated that it was not immediately clear whether there were foreign fighters currently being held in Hasaka or only fighters from Syria and Iraq.
According to a former official familiar with the case, the facility had housed at least some foreign fighters in the past.
She added that local fighters also pose a challenge because who is holding them - the SDF - is not an internationally recognized government, making a correct court system impossible.
Some have been tried in Iraqi courts, but those hasty courts have been criticized for failing due process.
According to Copsey, the allies are also exploring financing the construction of a youth rehabilitation center that could accommodate about 500 young men "as a good way to disengage them from ISIS criminals in Al-Hol camp" in northeastern Syria, he said.
The magazine concluded with what was confirmed by Calvert and Copsey that the tools of the forces are still somewhat limited, and the final problem is political and humanitarian, not military, and for Calvert the most urgent problem is securing the facilities themselves.