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Islamic State group militants escaped from a prison in eastern Syria amid a chaotic transfer of control between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government on Monday, according to U.S. officials and regional sources.
The incident happened at Al-Shaddadi prison in Syria’s Hasakah province after a ceasefire had been brokered, which, according to reports, had not been moving fast enough.
The truce came after days of fighting, with Damascus accusing the SDF of dragging its feet on security handovers, sources told Fox News Digital.
Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had publicly signaled impatience with Kurdish autonomy, effectively telling the SDF leadership that it was time to dissolve.
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ISIS militants escape from a Syrian prison during a chaotic transfer from Kurdish-led forces to government control at Al-Shaddadi prison. ( Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)
Under an integration agreement reached Sunday, the SDF also agreed to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces it had controlled for years.
The deal then included responsibility for prisons holding ISIS detainees who would be transferred from the SDF to the Syrian government.
The U.S. had worked with the SDF to move the worst of the worst ISIS foreign fighters to other, more secure Syrian prisons before the ceasefire.
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Kurdish-Syrian ceasefire led to an ISIS prison escape in eastern Syria as forces abandoned Al-Shaddadi detention center during the security transition, U.S. officials confirmed.
Sources said there were fewer than 1,000 detainees at Al-Shaddadi prison previously, but only about 200 were there when the messy transition occurred Monday.
As SDF guards abandoned Al-Shaddadi prison and Syrian forces moved to take control, local residents broke roughly 200 ISIS detainees out of the facility, sources said.
“Most of these were low-level local fighters, not the hardened foreign fighters,” a well-placed source explained.
The U.S. military also said it had worked closely with the SDF in recent months to relocate the most dangerous foreign ISIS detainees to more secure prisons ahead of the ceasefire.
U.S. forces were also said to be closely monitoring developments as the transition unfolded.
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Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had publicly signaled impatience with Kurdish autonomy. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A senior U.S. official also told Fox News that most of the escaped prisoners were quickly rounded up and returned to the prison, which is now under Syrian government control.
On Monday, the Syrian army imposed a total curfew in the city of Shaddadi and launched sweeping security operations to locate any remaining escapees, according to reports.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials confirmed they were “boosting our presence by air, land and sea,” with the military monitoring the situation very closely.
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A squadron of F-15 fighter jets was repositioned and C-17 aircraft carrying heavy equipment arrived in the area. The USS Abraham Lincoln is expected to enter the U.S. Central Command area by Jan. 25.
In Iraq, Kurdish protesters were also brought under control after amassing at the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, with reports of demonstrators standing on walls.