Prison housing Iraqi, Syrian IS inmates attacked in Syria
Detention facilities under US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were hit by a major attack attempting to free the thousands within.
BAGHDAD — Mosque loudspeakers urged residents of Hasakah to stay inside in the early morning hours of Jan. 21 after an attempted jailbreak at detention facilities housing thousands of Syrian and Iraqi men suspected of being in the Islamic State.
The attack started around 10:30 PM on Thursday and the situation was still not under control as of late the next morning. Locals reported civilians fleeing from nearby areas due to clashes between IS fighters and the SDF.
This journalist was sent a cellphone video allegedly from inside the prison walls Friday morning showing men under a grey sky yelling "Allahu Akbar" and shooting machine guns.
The attack on the prison reportedly involved the detonation of both a car bomb and a motorcycle loaded with explosives near the prison, followed by clashes with security forces at the perimeter of the prison as well as an attack on a fuel depot nearby, where they were said to have “blown up three tankers in an attempt to take advantage of the rising smoke to prevent aircraft from following their movements.”
