More than 120 members of the Islamic State (IS) group have broken out of a prison in northeast Syria, exploiting violent clashes between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led militia that guards the facility.
Chaos During Prison Transfer
Syria's interior ministry confirmed the mass escape on Tuesday, 20 January 2026, stating it occurred a day earlier at a prison in the town of Shaddadeh. The incident took place amid a breakdown of a ceasefire and a failed handover of prison control from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to Damascus.
According to the ministry's statement, security forces have since managed to recapture 81 of the 120 escapees. It added that "intensive security efforts continue to pursue the remaining fugitives and take the necessary legal measures against them." The SDF and government have each blamed the other for the security failure.
Ceasefire Deal Unravels Amid Accusations
The prison break occurred against a backdrop of escalating violence. A deal announced on Sunday aimed to transfer control of SDF-run prisons to government forces, but the process collapsed. On Monday, clashes erupted around two IS prisons in the northeast.
Simultaneously, SDF chief commander Mazloum Abdi was in Damascus trying to salvage the ceasefire. He left without a statement, and the SDF later issued a call for "all of our youth" to "join the ranks of the resistance," signalling the deal's failure. In a separate accusation on Tuesday, the SDF claimed "Damascus-affiliated factions" cut off water to the al-Aqtan prison near Raqqa, calling it a "blatant violation of humanitarian standards."
Ongoing Threat and Regional Instability
The SDF, the main U.S.-backed force that fought IS, controls over a dozen prisons in northeast Syria holding roughly 9,000 IS members without trial. Many are suspected of atrocities committed during the group's 2014-2019 caliphate. Although territorially defeated, IS sleeper cells remain active.
The instability has forced Syria's interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, to postpone a planned trip to Germany. The nation has been in turmoil since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with new leaders struggling to exert control. A March agreement to merge the SDF with Damascus failed, and recent government offensives have seized key SDF-held areas, including oil-rich Deir el-Zour and Raqqa provinces.
