Syrian government takes over prison from Kurdish-led SDF, amid focus on ISIS inmates |
Syria’s Interior Ministry said Friday that it had taken over al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
The SDF was crucial to defeating ISIS a decade ago and has overseen the imprisonment of thousands of the terror group’s fighters and their families since. The European Union has expressed concern that some of those detainees could break out amid the transfer of power.
The US long backed the SDF, but Washington has more recently sided with Syria’s new central government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in its dramatic offensive to quickly take over the SDF-held parts of northern Syria.
Under military and political pressure from Damascus, which is seeking to extend its control across the country, the SDF has relinquished swathes of territory in recent days, withdrawing to parts of Hasakeh province, the Kurds’ stronghold in the northeast.
More than 134,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations, amid clashes and a fragile ceasefire deal.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing ISIS detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
It was not........