Officials and activists say Kurdish-led fighters advanced slowly under the cover of U.S.-led coalition air power in Syria’s northeast
The Associated Press
Despite their defeat in Syria nearly three years ago, IS sleeper cells have carried out deadly attacks against U.S.-backed fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces as well as government forces on the west bank of the Tigris River in eastern Syria. Hassakeh Gov. Ghassan Khalil told Syrian state media that some 4,000 civilians have fled to areas controlled by Syrian government forces in the city and its suburbs. He told state TV that authorities set up three shelters for the displaced and mosques were also asked to open their doors for those who were forced to leave their homes.
Gweiran Prison is the largest of around a dozen facilities run by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces holding suspected IS fighters. Gweiran holds more than 3,000 inmates, including IS commanders and figures considered among the most dangerous. He said the SDF's elite anti-terrorism unit and commandos are leading the operations that intensified Saturday night in neighborhoods east of the prison, where scores of IS fighters are holed up. He said SDF officials are at the same time trying to convince rioting detainees to surrender, because a confrontation inside the prison"could have grave consequences” due to the large numbers of detainees.
On Friday, the SDF’s top military commander, Mazloum Abadi, said IS mobilized “most of its sleeper cells” to organize the prison break.
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