SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi counter-terrorism service said on Sunday it had launched a “major campaign” to check over prisons in the country, following Islamic State (ISIS) attack on a jail in northeast Syria.
In a statement, the counter-terrorism service said the campaign began on January 22 and would last until January 30.
The campaign affected Taji central prison, Karkh central prison, al-Kadhimiyah prison, Nasiriyah central prison, Basra central prison, Babil prison, and Faysalyah prison in Nineveh province, it added.
“The intelligence of the counter-terrorism service has participated in this campaign, which it obtained important and accurate information related to terrorist cells trying to create a foothold in our country and the region,” it said.
The agency said the inspection came after the recent security developments in the southeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, where ISIS militants attacked Sina’a prison on January 20 to free prisoners including the group’s leaders.
On January 26, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Farhad Shami said the group had regained full control of the prison.
The Kurdish-led group, however, said 60-90 ISIS suspects still holed up in the prison’s northern dormitories.
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.
