SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday its forces retook control of several points on the northern side of a prison in Hasakah where Islamic State (ISIS) militants attempted to escape.
SDF Media Center said in a statement that its forces along with internal security forces called Asayish launched raids to retake the northern side of Sina-Ghaweran prison in Hasakah, northeastern Syria.
The Kurdish-led group said its fighters eliminated several “Daesh terrorist attackers who infiltrated from al-Zuhour neighborhood”.
“Our forces stress the importance of recapturing the Daesh mutineers in the northern dormitories of the prison alive,” it added.
ISIS militants attacked the prison on Thursday night to break out inmates.
The SDF forces responded to the attack coincided with a car bomb that was detonated near the prison by militants, spokesman Farhad Shami said in a tweet.
A military source in the Kurdish-led forces said they killed 23 ISIS militants, including foreigners, in the clashes after the militant group attempted to free prisoners from the jail in Hasakah.
Seven members of the SDF and an allied security force called the Asayish were killed in the attack, the SDF military source said.
The SDF said it had detained 89 militants in the area of the prison.
It was the second time since December that Islamic State had attacked the prison in an effort to free inmates.
Islamic State controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq until it was driven from the territory in 2017-19 by adversaries, including a U.S.-led coalition, the SDF, and Iraqi security forces. Islamic State cells continue to carry out attacks in both countries.
