HASAKEH: US-backed Kurdish forces tightened the noose around armed jihadists hunkering down inside a Syrian prison, with both sides facing a bloodbath or talks to end the five-day-old standoff.
Around 100 Islamic State group fighters attacked Ghwayran prison in the northeastern city of Hasakeh on January 20, in their biggest military operation since their “caliphate” was defeated in 2019.
The ensuing clashes with the Kurdish forces running northeastern Syria have left more than 160 people dead, including 45 in Kurdish ranks, according to the group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Some of the estimated 3,500 IS prisoners inside the facility have already been bused out to other detention centres in recent hours but it was unclear how many remained inside Ghwayran.
Some of the hundreds of minors detained in the prison were transferred on Monday, the Observatory said.
“Kurdish forces are working on Tuesday to tighten the noose around ISIS members holed up in the northern part of the prison, while conducting careful search operations inside the buildings,” Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
“If there is no deal for a swap, there will be a massacre, hundreds of people will be killed,” he said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish administration’s de-facto army, have not confirmed reports that several prison guards were being held by IS fighters.
The SDF said that 250 IS detainees had surrendered on Tuesday, bringing the total number of jihadists who have turned themselves in to 550.
The Kurdish-led force’s spokesman, Farhad Shami, insisted there were no IS fighters on the loose and that inmates who had broken out of their cells were contained within the compound perimeter.
SDF forces operating with air support from US-led coalition forces operating in the region have deployed elite units and armoured vehicles in and around the converted school that became one of the world’s largest IS prisons.
An assault has looked imminent since Monday but the Observatory said Kurdish forces were reluctant to move in due to the presence of hostages inside.
The SDF is counting on the besieged jihadist fighters running out of ammunition and supplies, Abdel Rahman said.
He said talks were taking place for some of the Kurdish troops and prison staff trapped inside to be freed in exchange for medical treatment for wounded jihadist fighters. IS fighters are holding about 27 hostages in the northern section of the prison, Abdel Rahman said.
Since Monday, 15 prison staff who were held by unarmed jihadists have been released, according to the observatory. The fate of 25 others is still unknown.
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