Hundreds of Islamic State prisoners escape Syrian camp

Hundreds of suspected ISIL detainees have escaped from a camp in northeastern Syria, according to local authorities, as Turkey stepped up its military offensive in the Kurdish-controlled region.

The suspected affiliates of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) fled the detention facility in Ain Issa on Sunday after attacking guards and storming its gates, the Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said in a statement.

Jelal Ayaf, a senior official at the camp, told local media that 859 people successfully escaped from the section of the facility housing foreign nationals.

Ayaf added that a few were recaptured, but also warned that “sleeper cells” had emerged from inside another part of the facility and carried out attacks. He described the situation as “very volatile”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the claims of a prison break as “disinformation” aimed at provoking the United States and other western countries, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

Turkey launched its military operation, now in its fifth day, to clear the border region of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and create a “safe zone” to resettle some of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it hosts on its soil.

Source: Al Jazeera