The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continues to comb al-Sina’a prison in the Ghweran neighborhood of al-Hassakeh, announcing its control of new dormitories inside the prison, amid reports of ongoing negotiations with the Islamic State (ISIS).
On Tuesday, the SDF media center said that its forces took control of a block of buildings inside Sina’a prison, consisting of 8 dormitories for prisoners. This comes as part of the sweeping campaign announced, on Monday, inside the prison.
The center added in a statement that 250 members of ISIS surrendered and left the prison without their weapons, bringing the number of surrenders to 550 as of Tuesday. Several members of the organization are still holed up in one of the prison buildings.
ISIS did not comment on SDF’s statement about the expansion of the Ghweran prison and the surrender of its members.
In addition, the SDF announced the release of nine of its prisoners from the staff in Ghweran prison, whom ISIS had detained during the prison break-in.
A few days ago, the Islamic State’s Amaq agency published what it said were details of the break-in at Sina’a prison (Ghweran) in Hassakeh, in addition to video footage showing a group of ISIS militants while they were detaining SDF members.
The SDF has been besieging Sina’a prison, which has been witnessing internal conflict, for five days.
Negotiations for the extradition of prisoners
For its part, France 24 reported that negotiations are underway between the two sides to free SDF hostages in exchange for allowing ISIS members to leave towards the desert.
France 24 quoted informed sources as saying that ISIS demanded SDF to provide medical care for its wounded, in exchange for the release of the 27 hostages. The fate of 40 others remains unknown.
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The two sides have not officially announced negotiations for the release of the hostages so far.
The death toll from the attack on Ghweran prison, which began last Thursday, reached 114 dead from ISIS and 45 from SDF, along with seven civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented.
The Ghweran prison is home to thousands of al-Qaeda detainees and their families. It is considered one of the largest SDF prisons in eastern Syria.
AANES Holds Turkey Responsible for ISIS Attack
In Related news, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) held the Turkish government responsible for the recent attacks by ISIS, according to North Press.
“The mentality that rules and controls Turkey is nothing but the product of expansionist and aggressive desires and ambitions to target the Syrian territory and its people, especially in northeastern areas”, the AANES General Council said, in a statement, yesterday.
“Turkey has worked day and night, through its radical mercenaries, polluted with Daesh ideology, to destabilize security and stability and try to foil the democratic project of the AANES,” the statement added.
Aiming at tightening control over the city of Hassakeh and securing a terrorist corridor from Tel Tamr to the al-Hol camp into Iraqi territory, Turkey trained mercenaries in special camps in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad and sent them to the Ghweran neighborhood in Hassakeh in order to attack al-Sina’a prison, the statement read.
While the Syrian regime, on the Syrian border, stands watching the Turkish aggression, according to the statement.
The AANES called on the people of north and east Syria to support it and stand by its side to counter both internal and external conspiracies.
As it called on the Global Coalition to assume its obligations in confronting ISIS terrorism and work to repatriate foreign ISIS members to their countries.
In a relevant development, SDF managed to capture, yesterday five members of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) sleeper cells in a village southeast of Hassakeh.
An SDF military source told North Press that their forces captured five members of ISIS sleeper cells after they targeted one of the military checkpoints in the southern countryside.
The source added that the SDF pursued them after the targeting operation to surround them, capture them and move them to Shaddadi town.
Since January 20, ISIS launched an attack on al-Sina’a prison, which houses thousands of ISIS members in an attempt to help them escape.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
