CENTCOM: No sign of coronavirus in Syria’s IS prisons as riots raise concern

Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, the top commander of American forces in the Middle East, said today that his command is concerned about recurring uprisings in prisons holding thousands of Islamic State detainees in northeast Syria.

McKenzie also said the United States is “absolutely” concerned about the coronavirus spreading in the prisons, though no signs of an outbreak have yet been detected.

“We believe the best way to reduce the population of those prisons, in all cases, is repatriation,” McKenzie told reporters in a conference call on Tuesday morning.

“We’re working with a variety of nations to achieve that goal. It’s a slow process, but we believe that’s the best path going forward,” the commander said.