In a statement on Tuesday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Media Center said: “Due to the international community’s indifference towards the ISIS issue and its failure to assume its responsibilities in addressing this serious matter, our forces were compelled to withdraw from al-Hol camp and redeploy to areas surrounding cities in northern Syria that are facing increasing dangers and threats.”
In a statement on Monday, the SDF said that al-Shaddadi Prison in southern Hesekê, which holds thousands of detainees from the terrorist organization ISIS, had been subjected to repeated attacks carried out by factions affiliated with Damascus. Although the prison is located approximately two kilometers from the International Coalition base in the area, the base did not intervene, despite repeated calls for intervention. SDF announced that Al-Shaddadi Prison had fallen outside the control of their forces as a result of these developments.
On the same day, the SDF shared footage showing militias affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government and supported by the Turkish state release ISIS members from the Shaddadi Prison.
On the other hand, the Al-Aqtan Prison north of Raqqa, which houses around 2,000 ISIS members, has been under attack by Syrian government–affiliated gangs since 18 January. The SDF and YPJ fighters, along with Counter-Terrorism Units, are resisting the assaults to prevent ISIS members from escaping. Despite calls to the International Coalition and international powers to take action to prevent escapes due to these attacks, no response has been received so far.
The SDF announced yesterday that many of their fighters had been martyred as a result of the ongoing attacks on al-Aqtan Prison. They noted that the prison holds the most dangerous ISIS fighters. The SDF-YPJ fighters guarding the prison issued an urgent call to the international community and called on the International Coalition to intervene against the militias attacking the prison with heavy weapons.
The prison was also attacked by a Turkish drone, causing material damage. The attack was an attempt by the militias to create chaos inside the prison, but the situation was quickly brought under control, yet there is a risk of escape for 2,000 ISIS fighters held in the prison.
Earlier today, the SDF reported that Damascus-affiliated factions have cut off water supplies to the prison after besieging it and carrying out direct shelling of its buildings and facilities.