A longtime U.S. ally announced it had abandoned a massive prison in northeastern Syria housing thousands of Islamic State militants and their families.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Tuesday that it had redeployed from al-Hol camp to a nearby city, citing “international apathy” as the reason for the withdrawal. The move comes amid escalating fighting between the SDF and fighters loyal to the Syrian government, and after reports of a ceasefire between the two sides.
“This is due to international indifference to the issue of the terrorist organization ISIS and the failure of the international community to fulfill its responsibility to address this serious problem,” the SDF said in a post on X.
The SDF and the government have been exchanging blame over the escape from a prison in the town of Shaddadeh, as a ceasefire agreement between the two countries falls apart.
SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told the Kurdish news website Rudaw that “approximately 1,500 ISIS fighters, including foreigners and Syrians, were liberated” at Shadadi prison in southern Hasakah after fighting by Damascus-linked armed groups.
Syria’s Interior Ministry announced that 120 members of the Islamic State group have escaped from prison.
Security forces have captured 81 of the fugitives, but “intensive security operations continue to track down the remaining fugitives and take necessary legal action,” the Associated Press statement said.
The Syrian army and Self-Defense Forces signed a ceasefire agreement on Sunday to end fighting that has displaced thousands of people. The two sides also agreed to a sweeping integration deal that would have placed much of the autonomous region under government control. Responsibility for prisons housing ISIS detainees was to be transferred to the government.
Both sides in the war are important allies of Washington. US Special Envoy Tom Barrack met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa early Sunday morning as government forces invaded Raqqa city and the entire Deir Ezzor province. SDF leader Mazloum Abdi also reportedly participated in the meeting by phone.
Barak praised the agreement, saying it would lead to “new dialogue and cooperation towards a unified Syria” at X before working on the details of implementation.
Syria’s new leaders have struggled to assert full authority over the war-torn country since overthrowing Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, but recent efforts have seen them gain control of Deir el-Zour and Raqqa provinces, key areas under SDF control, including oil and gas fields and border crossings.
The SDF blames much of Türkiye’s defeat on Turkish support. The Turkish government is Damascus’s biggest supporter and views the SDF, which has been fighting its own Kurdish minority for decades, as a threat.
