Syria says 120 Islamic State detainees escaped prison; Kurdish website said 1,500 escaped

Soldiers of the Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) deploy with armoured military vehicles to secure roads leading to Gweiran Prison which houses men accused of being an Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in Hassakeh, northeastern Syria. (Photo: AP)

Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported ‍that ⁠a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500 Islamic State members had escaped.

The Syrian ​ministry said Syrian ‌army units and ministry special forces entered Shaddadi following the ​breakout. It said security forces had recaptured 81 of the escapees after search and sweep operations in the town and surrounding areas, with efforts continuing to arrest ‌the remaining fugitives.

Earlier, the Syrian army said “a number of” Islamic State militants ‌had escaped a prison that had been under ‌SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the ‌SDF of ‍releasing them.

Afterdays ⁠of ​fighting with government forces, the SDF agreed on Sunday ⁠to withdraw from both Raqqa and ⁠Deir al-Zor, two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years and the ‌location of Syria’s mainoil fields.