Kurdish-led militia says it has retaken Syrian prison from ISIS

SDF fighters walk amid the damage around the makeshift Ghwayran prison, on Jan 26, 2022. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

NEW YORK (NYTIMES) - The Kurdish-led militia that has been battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters for control of a prison in northeastern Syria said on Wednesday (Jan 26) that it had retaken the whole complex.

A spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces militia, Farhad Shami, wrote on Twitter that six days of battle had ended with "our entire control" of the makeshift prison in the city of al-Hasaka.

About 30 SDF militiamen and hundreds of ISIS members, both attackers and prisoners who joined them, have been killed since hundreds of ISIS fighters attacked the prison and seized control of part of it Jan 20.

The attack was one of several recent military operations by the ISIS showing that the group, which suffered a territorial defeat in Syria three years ago, has again become a potent regional threat.

There was no immediate word of new casualties Wednesday. About 700 boys had been held by the ISIS fighters as human shields.

In recent days, the fighting centred on the building in the complex where the 700 boys were held. Shami said that about 500 ISIS fighters holed up there had been holding the boys and some of the prison workers hostage.

The SDF, backed by US ground troops and air support, had surrounded the building for several days, meaning that no food or water could make it in.

On Wednesday, SDF members posted images of scores of men who appeared to be prisoners lined up in the prison yard after surrendering.

The prison lies in a predominantly Kurdish region of northeastern Syria outside the control of the Syrian authorities in Damascus. The Kurdish-led SDF fought alongside the United States to help drive ISIS from the region in 2019 and has since maintained a wide measure of autonomy there.

The United States still has a base at al-Hasaka with about 700 troops, and a smaller base near the Jordanian border in the south.

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