Calm restored in Syrian jail after riot by ISIS inmates
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BEIRUT • Kurdish-led security forces said they restored calm yesterday at a prison in north-east Syria after a riot by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inmates.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four detainees believed to have broken out of the Ghourian prison in the town of Hasakeh had been tracked down within the jail.
Some 5,000 ISIS suspects are held in the jail run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the observatory.
On Sunday, prisoners managed to dismantle cell doors and pierce through dormitory walls, overrunning the jail's ground floor, the SDF said.
"The situation in the prison is totally back under control," it said yesterday in a statement. Anti-Islamist forces linked to the SDF had "intervened directly, ending the riot and securing" the facility.
The statement said "no escape had occurred", refuting earlier reports. ISIS militants overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, imposing their brutal rule over millions.
But various military offensives slowly whittled down their territorial "caliphate", wiping the group out a year ago.
Syria's Kurds hold some 12,000 suspected Islamists in several prisons across the north-east of the country. The inmates are mostly Syrians and Iraqis, but 2,500 to 3,000 are foreigners from dozens of foreign countries.
They are held in overcrowded prisons where, according to Human Rights Watch, conditions are inhumane in many cases, a description that echoed concerns by other rights groups.
The Kurdish authorities called for foreign countries to repatriate their nationals accused of belonging to ISIS, but these countries have been largely reluctant.
Instead, the Kurds are now urging the international community to help better secure their jails and organise trials of ISIS-linked detainees on their own soil.
Despite the end of their territorial control, ISIS fighters still maintain a presence in SDF-held areas and continue to claim frequent attacks.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
