Syria gov’t, Kurds trade accusations over fate of IS prisoners

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces traded accusations on Monday over the fate of Islamic State (IS) group prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities, as Syria’s army deployed in the north and east under a recent deal.

Syria’s Kurdish-administered camps and prisons hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived IS links, including the biggest camp Al-Hol where more than 24,000 remain detained nearly seven years after the group’s territorial defeat.

A deal announced on Sunday between Damascus and the Kurds includes integrating the Kurdish administration responsible for IS “prisoners and camps” and “forces responsible for protecting these facilities” into the Syrian government.

The agreement states that Damascus will take “full legal and security responsibility for them”.

Al-Hol, where conditions are dire, is in an area of Hasakeh province still under Kurdish control, according to a defence ministry map released on Monday, despite the government deployment in nearby areas.

The camp has a high-security section that holds non-Syrian and non-Iraqi women and children, and its director Jihan Hanan told AFP in December more than 24,000 people – around 15,000 Syrians, 3,500 Iraqis and 6,200 other foreigners – are detained there.

On Monday, the SDF said Shadadi prison, “which holds thousands of IS terrorists, has been subjected to repeated attacks by Damascus-backed factions”.

The prison, in the Kurdish-force stronghold of Hasakeh province southeast of Al-Hol, has “fallen outside the control of our forces”, the SDF statement said.

Syria’s army instead accused the Kurdish forces of releasing IS detainees from the facility and said its forces would work to “secure the prison” and comb the town for escapees.

AFP was unable to verify the claims.

In neighbouring Raqqa province, the SDF said clashes erupted in the vicinity of Al-Aqtan prison where it holds IS fighters, reporting casualties among its forces.

Prisons in Raqqa and Hasakeh provinces also hold local Arab tribal fighters.

An AFP correspondent who spent several hours near the Al-Aqtan facility on Monday afternoon saw no clashes, instead reporting that government security forces and armoured vehicles deployed around the facility.

The correspondent also saw two warplanes, likely belonging to the US-led anti-IS coalition, flying over the prison, while armed personnel from the facility deployed on the roof.

State news agency SANA reported “the deployment of military police forces” around the prison in order to secure it.

A government statement accused the Kurdish administration of “using the issue of terrorism” to “blackmail the international community”.

The Kurds have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their citizens from its facilities but foreign governments have generally allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and domestic political backlash.