More than 130 people were killed, including 84 jihadists and seven civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday. The troops led by Kurds tried there to regain full control of the prison.
US troops supported the fight against the extremists with airstrikes. Anti-IS coalition jets also dropped leaflets urging local residents to report “terrorist or suspicious acts” of any kind in the area. According to the observatory, military reinforcements also arrived near the prison. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by Kurdish militias, have taken control of a large part of the prison and the surrounding area.
The raid on the prison, which began on Thursday evening, was one of the heaviest IS attacks in Syria in years. The aim was to free imprisoned followers. The attack was a reminder that the fight against the terrorist militia is not yet won. In neighboring Iraq, IS extremists also attacked a military base northeast of Baghdad on Friday, killing eleven Iraqi soldiers, according to security sources.
In a statement shared on social media, IS claimed responsibility for the raid in Syria. More than 800 prisoners were able to escape, according to a message distributed over the Internet by the IS mouthpiece Amak. IS fighters used trucks to detonate two car bombs at the prison entrance. The prison director was also killed in the fighting.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, IS fighters are holed up in prison, and snipers are also lurking in a neighboring shell. IS released a video purporting to show dozens of prison guards allegedly captured in the raid. Some of the men say their names and dates of birth to the camera.
Al-Hassaka is located in the north-east of the civil war country, which is controlled by Syrian Kurds. According to Kurdish media, there were around 5,000 IS supporters in the prison there. An SDF spokesman said on Saturday that numerous escaped IS supporters had been caught. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens were still at large.
In the summer of 2014, the terrorist militia took over large areas in northern and western Iraq and proclaimed a so-called caliphate there. The extremists also ruled large parts of neighboring Syria. With military support from the United States and other countries, the Iraqi security forces were able to push back the terrorist militia. In spring 2019, troops led by Kurds captured the last IS stronghold in Syria. Observers warn of a resurgence of the terrorist militia.