1,500 ISIS prisoners escape Syrian facility as ceasefire collapses

Tuesday 20 January 2026 - 08:20

By: Dakir Madiha

1,500 ISIS prisoners escape Syrian facility as ceasefire collapses

Around 1,500 Islamic State fighters broke out of the Shaddadi prison in northeastern Syria on Monday, according to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, just as a fragile ceasefire between Kurdish fighters and the Damascus government crumbled a day after its announcement. FDS spokesperson Farhad Shami told the Kurdish outlet Rudaw that the mass escape followed repeated assaults by Damascus-aligned factions on the facility, which housed thousands of ISIS detainees. Syrian army officials denied launching the attacks, instead accusing the FDS of intentionally releasing the militants. By Monday evening, Damascus claimed to have retaken the city and prison, imposing a curfew while troops hunted the fugitives.

The prison break erupted one day after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and FDS commander Mazloum Abdi signed a 14-point deal calling for an immediate ceasefire and integration of Kurdish forces into the Syrian army. The agreement specified transferring control of ISIS detention facilities to the government. FDS media officials reported repelling multiple assaults but suffering heavy casualties, with dozens killed or wounded in defending the site. Kurdish forces blamed the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition for failing to intervene despite urgent pleas to a nearby base, though the U.S. Central Command offered no immediate response.

Clashes also flared near the al-Aqtan prison northeast of Raqqa, another site holding ISIS members, where the FDS reported nine fighters killed and 20 wounded. An Associated Press journalist witnessed a U.S. convoy approaching the area, apparently aiming to mediate between the sides.

The FDS oversee more than a dozen prisons in northeastern Syria, detaining roughly 9,000 ISIS combatants who have languished without trial for years. Many face accusations of atrocities dating back to the group's 2014 caliphate declaration across parts of Syria and Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged swift implementation of the deal on Monday, viewing the FDS as a terrorist group due to its ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party. In a televised address Sunday, Abdi acknowledged the agreement was imposed on the FDS, noting their withdrawal from Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa to Hassaké to avert a slide into civil war. The Kurds had long resisted handing over prisons, oil fields, and border posts now slated for government control.