In the last several days, the world has seen the betrayal of the anti-ISIS coalition and the resurgence of ISIS in Syria.
ISIS Prison releases
There are 6 sites that have been identified where detainees have been released by Syrian government forces or affiliated forces, 4 confirmed to house ISIS prisoners, 2 to still be verified. The 4 sites combined held 33,500 ISIS members.
While their whereabouts remain unclear, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) has already reported capturing Mahmoud Hassan al-Jubouri, whom they describe as “a prominent ISIS leader.”
The link between the Syrian transitional government forces and ISIS is clear.
• One person on a ride along with the Syrian army stated that releasing ISIS prisoners is “a noble goal and a priority for us.”
• ISIS patches can be seen in videos of government forces when attacking DAANES (as shown on Al-Jazier broadcast).
• On the 19th January, a group of SDF soldiers were beheaded and filmed by Syrian Army Soldiers resembling the tactics of fear and mutilation that ISIS was famous for.
• Al-Aqtan Prison in North East of Raqqa held 2000 male ISIS prisoners. Inside, the ISIS prisoners attacked at the same time as the STG forces from the outside, showing coordination.
• A video shared by SyriaNow shows Syrian government forces releasing prisoners from the SDF’s 17th Division prison, located nearby in Raqqa.
• Al-Shaddadi prison near Heseke, which held 1,500 prisoners, was also attacked and taken by the STG with reports of it now being empty with all prisoners released.
• Videos showed al-Ma’amel Prison in Deir ez-Zor being opened, according to Amnesty International. This prison held ISIS affiliates.
Situation of ISIS camps
Al-Hol camp
• Is now under the control of HTS
• housed 25,000 ISIS affiliated women and children
• The central area of the camp is largely empty now. At the time of writing, it is not known how many have escaped.
• Former Al-Hol camp manager described this situation as chaos as locals assaulted nearby security forces as the residents of the camp seized the opportunity in the gap in security
• A detailed report of attacks and escapes at Camp Al-Hol can be found on the Rojava Information Center website.
Al-Roj camp
• Holds more than 2000 people, mainly foreign women and children, associated with ISIS whose countries won’t take them back.
• Currently still under SDF control.
There are still ISIS prisons under the control of the SDF with thousands of ISIS members still contained. In the last ceasefire agreement, it was mentioned that they would come under the authority of Damascus.
ISIS prisoner transfers
• The US announced that it will transfer 7000 ISIS detainees from prisons held in North and East Syria to Iraqi prisons. So far, 300 have been moved.
• Finally, the transfer of ISIS detainees to Iraq has slowed this week, following Baghdad’s request to reduce the pace to allow negotiations with other countries.
Hypocrisy of the west
Despite numerous massacres and a known and recorded history of being a jihadist leader, on 9th January, the EU praised the Al-Sharaa government for its ‘progress’ and spoke of new beginnings in their relations. They pledged to financially and politically aid the Islamist government with $622 million. The EU now reports they are seriously concerned about the foreign ISIS mercenaries escaping detention in Syria, despite funding the Syrian Transitional government, whose affiliated forces attacked and allowed them to escape/ freed them. There are campaigns for the EU to pull this funding and for countries within the EU to stop inviting HTS’s leader on official visits, and yet the EU support for HTS continues.
The anti-ISIS coalition, which is led by the US and includes the EU, Britain, alongside many other states, refused the calls from the SDF to help protect the Al-Shaddadi prison despite only being 2km away. The sole reason the anti-ISIS coalition is in Syria is to control, and aim to eliminate ISIS. They also promised for 3 days to remove the prisoners to a secure location from Al-Aqtan prison before it was attacked. However, no action was taken. The anti-ISIS coalition made no interventions when ISIS members escaped from any of these prisons.
In an agreement pushed for by the US, the Camp Al-Hol administration is to be handed over to HTS, despite HTS having a jihadist ideology and practice. Until recently, the US designated HTS as a terrorist organisation.