ISIS uses civilians as 'human shields' in Rojava: SDF

Layal Shakir

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Islamic State (ISIS) is using civilians in northeastern Syria (Rojava) as “human shields,” the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Friday after the militant group attempted to break thousands of its affiliates out of a prison in the area.

The SDF thwarted a "new ISIS insurgence and escape attempt" of its members from Ghweran prison in Hasaka province late Thursday, head of the forces media office Farhad Shami said in a tweet. 

The insurgence coincided with a car bomb explosion near the prison, blamed on ISIS sleeper cells. 

The militants infiltrated from areas surrounding the prison. The militants who attacked Ghweran later fled to al-Zuhoor neighborhood and hid in civilian houses, the SDF said. 

ISIS is “using civilians in al-Zuhoor neighborhood and some areas on the northern side of the prison as human shields, amid reports of neutralizing some of those who opposed the cells orders,” the SDF said in a statement. The terror group had asked the civilians to leave their homes and seek refuge in other places.

The militants clashed with the internal security forces (Asayish).

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Friday said at least 41 people - 20 security forces, 16 ISIS suspects and five civilians - have been killed so far. 

However, the Asayish on Friday afternoon confirmed the death of one of its members and the injury of seven others. Three civilians were killed, it added. 

The Kurdish forces arrested two ISIS members that tried to escape the Ghweran prison. 

The SDF said they arrested 89 ISIS suspects who were trying to break free from Ghweran in another “mass escape” on Friday morning. It also confirmed the killing of five suspects of the terror group. 

Ghweran and al-Shaddadi prison in Hasaka hold an estimated number of 7,500 Syrian and foreign ISIS suspects, including children, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in 2020. Around 5,000 people are detained in Ghweran, which was formerly a school and is now controlled by the SDF.