Clashes between ISIS and Kurdish forces in Syria, 130 killed
Damascus … News Time
Fighting continued for a fourth day between US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria and extremist ISIS (ISIS) fighters who stormed a jail, killing 136 people, including civilians, a war crimes watchdog said. People died. More than 100 rebels stormed the Kurdish-run Ghwayran prison in the town of Hasakeh on Thursday to free their comrades, according to the international news agency AFP. Since the defeat of the self-proclaimed Khilafah, it is considered to be their biggest operation so far. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, militants have been seen releasing prisoners and seizing weapons stored in prisons in fierce fighting since the operation. Experts see it as a bold attempt to reorganize ISIL. According to observers, at least 84 members of ISIL and 45 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism personnel have been killed inside and outside the prison since the attack began. He added that seven civilians were also killed in the fighting in the northeastern city.
Fighting continued on Sunday, with coalition-led Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) approaching jihadist targets inside and outside the prison. The SDF said in a statement that its forces had sealed off the area around the jail, adding that ISIL fighters inside the jail gates could no longer escape. According to the Observatory, the SDF has secured most of the area except for a few cell blocks where the jihadists have not yet surrendered. A correspondent near the town of Ghwayran reported heavy shelling in the area around the jail, which is said to be home to at least 3,500 members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The correspondent reported that the SDF deployed a large number of forces in the vicinity of the jail where they conducted combing operations and used loudspeakers to urge the jihadists to surrender. ISIL fighters are breaking into homes and killing people, said a 30-year-old man fleeing on foot. He picked up a child wrapped in a blanket and said that it was a miracle that we managed to escape from there. The situation is still very bad. Violent clashes continue even after four days. ISIL has launched regular attacks on Kurdish and government targets in Syria since the fall of its vast state in March 2019.
