US officials warned on Wednesday that thousands of ISIS members currently imprisoned in Syria could eventually escape prison, Politico reported.
After the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) violently invaded the territory of the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The SDF currently holds 9,000 ISIS fighters and 50,000 others in custody. Detention centers with inadequate security; According to Go to Politico. If SNA attacks do not stop, military-sized ISIS forces could be released from captivity, triggering a resurgence of the terror group, US officials told the outlet.
“I usually hate this cliché, but this is the closest thing to a ticking time bomb,” a senior U.S. counterterrorism official told Politico. “If Turkey does not receive these attacks, [Syrian Democratic Forces] If stopped, a large-scale jailbreak could be possible. ”
According to Politico, the prison was supposed to be temporary for the SDF to organize the extradition of fighters to their home countries, but home countries have been reluctant to send them back. (Related: CNN’s Clarissa Ward talks for nearly four minutes about the ‘complexities’ of Syria after false alarm)
“This is essentially a terrorist army in custody,” retired Gen. Joseph Votel, who led U.S. Central Command in the fight against ISIS from 2016 to 2019, told Politico. “I’m very worried.”
The Trump administration wiped out much of ISIS’s presence in the Middle East during its time in office. According to to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
A man holds an ISIS flag as pro-Palestinian supporters gather in Cape Town on November 12, 2023. During the rally, they were chased away by pro-Israel supporters. (Photo provided by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP)
According to Politico, the US is currently helping broker a ceasefire between the SNA and SDF over Manbij in northeastern Syria, and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi is considering extending the ceasefire further. The SDF has been fighting ISIS alongside the US for years, and the US has 900 troops in Syria.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told Politico: “We continue to consult with Turkey and the SDF on the path forward.” “We do not want any political party to take advantage of the current unstable situation to advance their own narrow interests at the expense of broader Syrian interests.”
President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels led by the Islamic terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which included some SNA forces. Experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the sudden rise of HTS and the decline of Russia’s influence in the region has created a highly volatile situation in the region.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DCNF.
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