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More than 65 dead in clashes between Daesh, Syria Democratic Forces

January 22, 2022 at 10:47 am

This picture shows the damage in a street in the central Syrian town of al-Qaryatain in the Homs province, on December 2021 [LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images]

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that it repelled an attack on a prison holding thousands of Daesh inmates, a statement reported by news agencies revealed.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that a car bomb hit the entrance of Al-Ghuwayran Prison in Syria’s Al-Hasakah. A second blast went off in the vicinity before Daesh militants attacked Kurdish security forces guarding the facility.

The SDF disclosed in their statement that the attack was aimed at freeing Daesh prisoners.

According to SOHR: “A number of prisoners managed to escape.” SOHR said that this prison includes 3,500 Daesh members and leaders. The SDF reported that many had escaped, but most were recaptured.

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In a preliminary estimate, SOHR stated that 39 Daesh members and 23 SDF members were killed, along with five civilians.

According to SOHR, the clashes were continuous on Friday evening and caused an electricity blackout in Al-Hasakah, pushing hundreds of Syrians to flee their homes.

“There have been aircraft, clashes, killing of youths,” Um Ibrahim, 38, who fled her house, told AFP. “The situation is very bad. We left our house because of the clashes. We were afraid for our children.”

Meanwhile, the SDF said that it captured 89 mercenaries around the prison, adding that Daesh members nearby continued opening fire to give hope to the prisoners that they were still fighting for their release.

Daesh blamed the attack on: “Daesh sleeper cells, who infiltrated from the surrounding neighbourhoods and clashed with the internal security forces.”

Reports have detailed that about 12,000 Daesh members and leaders of 50 nationalities are in the prisons led by Kurds in the north of Syria.

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