In brief
The US military is launching a mission to transfer up to 7,000 Islamic State (IS) fighters from Syria to secure facilities in Iraq to mitigate potential threats to regional security amidst escalating tensions between Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led fighters. This move follows significant disturbances in the region, including a new ceasefire and recent escape of IS prisoners.
The US military has launched a mission to transfer up to 7,000 Islamic State (IS) group fighters from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, as Syrian government forces take control of areas long controlled by Kurdish-led forces.
US Central Command stated that it has already moved 150 IS fighters from Hassakeh province to a secure location in Iraq. The move aims to prevent a breakout that ‘would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security,’ it added.
On Tuesday night, Syria's government announced a new ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after the militia alliance withdrew from al-Hol camp, which holds thousands of relatives of IS fighters.
Separately on Wednesday, Syria's defence ministry reported that seven soldiers were killed in a drone attack by Kurdish forces in the Kurdish-dominated province of Hasakah. The government and SDF had earlier blamed each other for the escape of suspected IS fighters from an SDF-run prison in Shaddadi, in southern Hassakeh.
Syria's interior ministry said that its special forces had entered the town following ‘the escape of around 120 [IS] terrorists’ from the prison. Search operations resulted in the arrest of 81 of the fugitives. The SDF reported losing control of Shaddadi prison after “Damascus-affiliated factions” mounted attacks and killed many of its fighters.
IS has been weakened in Syria, yet remains active, primarily targeting Kurdish-led forces in the northeast. The US was once the SDF's main ally; however, US special envoy Tom Barrack noted that the rationale for this partnership has ‘largely expired’, shifting the US focus to securing IS-held facilities and facilitating talks between the SDF and the Syrian government. This moment presents an opportunity for full integration into a unified Syrian state with citizenship rights and cultural protections for all citizens.
