Islamic State Terrorist Detainees Riot in Syrian Prison

Suspected Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists detained at a prison in northeastern Syria tried to riot on Monday night, Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported on Tuesday.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) operate the prison, located in the Kurdish-controlled city of Hasakah, where the latest of “several” riots in recent months erupted on Monday night.

According to Syria’s official state news agency, SANA, Monday’s riot was sparked after a “senior U.S. official” visited the prison. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) claims that the riot started after prisoners demanded “fair trials” and to “see their families.”

Inmates “tried to break down the walls and doors of the prison” resulting in “casualties,” SOHR reports.

According to Rudaw, “SDF-affiliated news agency NPA shared footage of military reinforcements arriving at the prison to control the scene.” SOHR reports that “U.S.-led coalition helicopters” were seen flying over the city at “low altitude.”

Surveillance aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition are stationed around the prison to provide intelligence to the SDF, according to American military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Monday’s riot was the latest in a string of disturbances at Hasakah’s prison in recent months. On March 30, two riots broke out at the prison within a 24-hour period. Additional riots took place in May, Rudaw reports.

An estimated 3,000-5000 prisoners of roughly 50 nationalities are held in the Hasakah prison. Most of these inmates “were detained by Kurdish and coalition forces in the last ISIS stronghold of Baghouz in March 2019,” according to Rudaw. Across northeast Syria, over 10,000 suspected ISIS members are currently held in SDF-run prisons.

According to SOHR, Kurdish forces have repeatedly urged the international community to take “responsibility” for foreign ISIS militants detained in SDF-controlled prisons, most recently on May 3.

“We believe that the international coalition forces and the international community have a responsibility to find a solution to the issue of detained ISIS members, provide more support for greater security measures, and improve the conditions of detainees inside prisons in northern and eastern Syria,” SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel said.