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Dozens of ISIS terrorists are still holding up in the fortified basements of Geweran prison in the northeastern Syrian city of al-Hasakah, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed on January 28.
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on January 26 that Geweran was recaptured from ISIS terrorists, who occupied it on January 20. However as of January 28, clashes are still ongoing in the prison.
According to the SOHR, SDF fighters have not stormed Geweran’s basements because they fear that the terrorists taking shelter there may be holding some live hostages, especially that many of the prison’s guards and workers are still missing.
The remaining ISIS terrorists, who are estimated to be between 60 and 90, are still refusing to surrender. However, the SDF hopes that they will give up once they run out of water and food.
Currently, the SDF is combing the empty parts of the prison. On January 18, the dead bodies of 28 SDF fighters were retrieved from the prison.
Only 1,600 of over 4,000 terrorists, who were detained at Geweran prison, surrendered to the SDF or were apprehended by the group between January 20 and 26. The fate of more than 2,000 others remains unknown.
A recent report by the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi revealed that the battle slowed down on January 26 as a result of a deal between the SDF and ISIS. Under the deal, the SDF allowed some 200 terrorists to withdraw from Geweran prison to al-Badia in exchange for the release of 23 of its own fighters who were being held as hostages. ISIS weekly newspaper, al-Nabaa, confirmed in a recent report that “many groups” of terrorists were able to escape the prison as result of the January 20 attack.
According to the most recent update by the SOHR, the battle of Geweran prison has so far claimed the lives of 180 terrorists of ISIS, seven civilians and 73 personnel of the SDF and its security forces.
