ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Clashes intensified on Tuesday around al-Aqtan prison in northern Syria’s Raqqa, which holds thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) detainees, as Damascus-affiliated forces shelled the facility with heavy weapons, raising fears of a major security collapse.
A Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) source speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity said the prison is besieged and holds around 2,000 ISIS prisoners.
“Now the passage of food and water to the prison has been blocked,” the source said. “It is now under attack, and [Syrian Democratic Forces] SDF is resisting fiercely, and they are not allowing the prison to fall into the hands of the Syrian Arab Army and armed groups,” the source added.
The SDF, in a statement later on Tuesday, said that Damascus affiliated-forces “directly” shell the prison’s buildings and facilities and that they “began cutting off the water supply to the prison.”
The statement added that “this has caused a severe water shortage, in addition to a significant lack of food and medical supplies.”
“We hold Damascus fully responsible for any humanitarian or security repercussions resulting from this action, and we call on international organizations to intervene urgently to ensure the provision of the prison's basic needs,” the SDf said.
SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami earlier on Monday said that “tanks and artillery” from Damascus-affiliated factions were shelling the prison, which houses ISIS members and leaders.
The escalation comes as Syria’s interim interior ministry said on Tuesday that it had captured more than 80 ISIS members who escaped from al-Shaddadi prison in southern Hasaka amid clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus-affiliated factions.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) relayed a statement from the ministry early Tuesday saying that “the escape incident” in al-Shaddadi prison resulted in “the escape of approximately 120 elements of the terrorist ISIS organization,” citing an unspecified source.