ISIS GROUP STAGES JAILBREAK IN SYRIA
Fighters from the Islamic State group attacked a prison in northeast Syria in an attempt to free thousands of their comrades, one of the boldest assaults by the terrorist group in the Middle East since the fall of its socalled caliphate three years ago, U.S. and Kurdish officials said Friday.
The attack, which began Thursday night and continued late Friday, set off deadly clashes with the Kurdish-led militia that controls the area, killing dozens of people and allowing scores of prisoners to flee, at least temporarily, the officials said.
Across the border in Iraq, Islamic State fighters launched one of the deadliest attacks in months there Friday, killing 11 Iraqi security force members in a predawn attack on an army post in Diyala province.
The twin attacks highlighted the fragile security that persists in territories once ruled by the Islamic State.
The new violence also drew attention to the unfinished business of the military defeat of the group in Iraq and Syria in 2019: tens of thousands of former residents of its self-described caliphate, fighters and their families, who are now indefinitely detained by a U.S.backed militia that does not want them but cannot get rid of them.
The Islamic State fighters launched their assault on the prison in the city of Hasaka, Syria, Thursday evening by detonating a car bomb near the entrance and then unleashing hails of gunfire at the guards, officials said.
The fighting spilled into the surrounding neighborhood, killing dozens of people, including civilians. As the fighters attacked, the prisoners rioted, trying to help the attackers set them free.