68 people were killed in an ISIS attack on a prison...

23 members of the Kurdish security forces, 40 ISIS members, and 5 civilians were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory, in continuous clashes since Thursday evening inside and outside Ghweran prison in the city of Al-Hasakah, northeastern Syria, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stated that they had returned 89 prisoners were arrested in the vicinity of the prison, after they tried to escape.

The observatory said, in a statement, that it “documented more casualties due to” the attack, as “the death toll of the Asayish and prison guards rose to 23, all of whom died in the events taking place in the area” since Thursday evening. On the other hand, “at least 40” ISIS fighters were killed “in clashes with Kurdish forces inside and outside the prison,” according to the director of the observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman. And media outlets reported an exodus of local residents in the neighborhoods of Ghweran neighborhood in the city of Hasaka. While the security forces imposed a complete cordon on the vicinity of Ghwane prison, helicopters of the International Coalition bombed separate locations in the vicinity of the prison, after flying and dropping light bombs, to support the security forces besieging the place.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which supervises the prison, announced yesterday, Friday, that it had “thwarted a mass escape attempt carried out by the organization’s mercenaries” in Ghweran prison in Al-Hasakah, after a first attack carried out by terrorists, on Thursday evening, which led to the escape of a number of prisoners. It added that it “arrested 89 mercenaries in the vicinity of the prison,” as “clashes are continuing,” according to a statement it issued. And she indicated that she had killed “in the early hours” of Friday morning, “five attackers, including a mercenary of Chinese nationality.” She stated that the ISIS fighters who carried out Thursday’s attack were hiding in civilian homes in the Al-Zohour neighborhood near the prison. She pointed out that what she described as “exceptional security conditions” that have continued since Thursday include “the vicinity of Al-Hasakah prison and the neighborhoods close to it.” And it noted in a statement that “the cells of the terrorist organization that take trenches from the homes of civilians in the Al-Zohour neighborhood are firing intensively in an attempt to send messages of hope to the detainees inside the prison.” And she considered that “these cells” use civilians in the Al-Zohour neighborhood and some areas on the northern side of the prison as human shields, amid field reports talking about the liquidation of some civilians who opposed these cells. And she added, “Our forces are careful and careful in dealing with these circumstances, and are doing their best to protect civilians as a primary task in planning and implementing any military and security plan.” The “SDF” forces had imposed a comprehensive curfew in al-Hasakah after the prisoners escaped. In its attack on Ghweran prison, ISIS deliberately detonated a car bomb in the vicinity of the prison, and attacked the guards of the Kurdish forces, in an attempt to free a number of prisoners there, the SDF said in a statement. The director of the observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman, described the attack as “the largest and most violent of its kind” launched by ISIS since the announcement of the abolition of its caliphate in March 2019 and the loss of all areas of its control. (agencies)