Around 1,500 members of the Islamic State escape from prison in Syria, says agency

US carries out attacks on the Islamic State in Syria Around 1,500 members of the Islamic State terrorist group escaped from a prison in the city of Shaddadi, in eastern Syria, according to the Rudaw agency reported this Monday (20). The prison was controlled by Kurdish forces operating in the country. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp The information was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military alliance led by Kurds that, in recent years, has been the United States’ main partner in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria. Earlier, the Syrian Army had acknowledged the escape of militants, but only spoke of an undetermined “number” of prisoners. Government forces accused the FDS of having released the detainees. The SDF says it lost control of the prison after attacks by Syrian government forces. Damascus, the seat of the country’s central power, denies having attacked the prison and claims that its troops are working to guarantee the security of the area and recapture the fugitives. The escape occurred amid a major change in control of Syrian territory. In recent days, Kurdish forces have begun to withdraw from areas in the north and east of the country following a ceasefire agreement with the Syrian government, ending years of Kurdish rule over those regions. The withdrawal includes the provinces of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, Arab-majority areas that are home to Syria’s main oil fields. Reuters journalists saw Syrian government forces occupying these regions after the SDF left. Under the agreement, Kurdish forces agreed to hand over to the government prisons that held members of the Islamic State, as well as oil and gas fields and border posts — points that had been the subject of a standoff for months. Shaddadi prison was one of the main terrorist detention facilities under SDF control. According to the Kurdish group, thousands of members of the Islamic State were trapped there. The episode takes place amid tensions between the Kurdish leadership and the Syrian government. Recent negotiations stalled after Damascus demanded that Kurdish fighters be incorporated individually into the Syrian Armed Forces, and not as their own units, as the SDF advocates. The Syrian government is trying to impose its authority throughout the country, after the removal of President Bashar al-Assad, at the end of 2024. Syrian soldiers on one of the banks of the Euphrates River, on January 18, 2026 REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi VIDEOS: most watched on g1

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