SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dismissed several fighters who violated “moral values and military principles”, the group said on Monday.
In a statement, the Kurdish-led group said fighters appeared in footage on social media had been “stripped of their military identity and expelled”.
Footage circulated on social media showing a group of SDF fighters arresting a number of ISIS suspects who attacked the Sina prison in Hasakah and forced them to take their clothes off.
“They will be sent to the competent court for breaching the moral values and military principles of the SDF,” the Kurdish-led group said.
The militants attacked Sina-Ghweran prison in northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah on Thursday, attempting to free prisoners that include the group’s leaders.
On Monday, an SDF source told Reuters that at least 300 ISIS militants surrendered after its forces raided part of the prison in northeastern Syria.
At least 180 inmates and militants were killed and 27 security forces have died since ISIS militants attacked the jail on Thursday in a bid to free their members, officials have said.
The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) called late on Sunday for the evacuation of the nearly 850 children held in the complex with the militants and their families, saying their safety was at “immediate risk”, according to Reuters.
The jail is the largest among several publicly known ones where the SDF holds suspected militants and other detainees in what aids groups say are overcrowded and inhumane conditions.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says the SDF holds a total of about 12,000 men and boys suspected of Islamic State affiliation, including 2,000 to 4,000 foreigners from almost 50 countries.
