SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces said on Wednesday its units thwarted an attempt by Islamic State (ISIS) militants to enter Sinjar district.
“The Sinjar force within the Nineveh Operations Command in the Popular Mobilization Authority thwarted an infiltration attempt by ISIS in south of Sinjar at dawn on today,” said the PMF, or Hashid al-Shaabi in Arabic.
The PMF fighters opened fire on the “terrorist group” trying to infiltrate into Sinjar, it said in a statement.
The incident came just days after ISIS militants attacked and seized Sina prison in Hasakah, northeast of Syria, on Thursday.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continued to clash with the militants still holed up in some buildings.
Dozens of ISIS militants escaped into the surrounding area in the attack, which included detonating a car bomb near the prison gates, while other inmates took over part of the facility.
The SDF said the death tally stood at around 200 inmates and 27 of its fighters, while over 550 militants have surrendered.
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.
On Saturday, Yehia Rasool, spokesman of commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said the Iraqi military had tightened security measures on the borderline with Syria following the ISIS attack on the prison.
