Hasakeh, Syria, Jan 21 (AFP/APP):The Islamic State group on Friday attacked a Syria prison housing fellow jihadists and a military base in Iraq in near simultaneous deadly operations that revived fears of an IS resurgence.
The jihadist group claimed both attacks but gave no indication they were coordinated. However, analysts said they strongly suggested IS was trying to boost its ranks and arsenal in an attempt to reorganise across both countries.
In Syria, the ongoing assault on the northeastern detention facility, which holds the largest number of IS suspects in Syria, killed at least 23 Kurdish security forces and set “dozens of IS fighters” free, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The prison break that began late Thursday was one of the group’s most significant attacks since its “caliphate” was declared defeated in the war-torn country nearly three years ago.
The jihadist group said in a statement released by its Amaq news agency that its attack on Ghwayran jail in the city of Hasakeh aimed to “free the prisoners”.
As IS operatives launched their bid to free some of the estimated 3,500 fellow fighters jailed at the prison, the jihadists killed 11 soldiers in an attack on an army base in the east of neighboring Iraq.
The attack marked the jihadists’ deadliest operation in Iraq this year.
While the Iraq operation quickly came under wraps, Kurdish forces in Syria continued to battle jihadists in Hasakeh, hours after the prison attack began with an IS car bomb the previous night, the Observatory said.
The war monitor, providing figures that were not immediately confirmed by the authorities of the autonomous Kurdish region, said nearly 40 jihadists were killed in the ongoing fighting which also drew in US-led coalition forces.
The brazen IS operation sowed chaos in Hasakeh, forcing people to flee the area around Ghwayran prison, with at least five civilians reported killed, according to the Observatory.
IS fighters hunkered down in homes around the facility, sometimes using residents as human shields, as Kurdish forces backed by coalition aircraft fought to retake full control of the neighbourhood and hunt down prisoners on the loose.
“IS fighters killed four of our neighbours,” said Umm Ibrahim, who was forced to escape her neighbourhood near the prison.
“We left because of the clashes. We feared for our children,” the 38-year-old told AFP.
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