Hundreds of Children Trapped as Fight Over NE Syria Jail Continues

US providing 'limited ground support' in fight

Last week’s ISIS attack on a prison in Syrian Kurdish territory, Hasakeh, is considerably less under control than the Kurds suggested at the time. Fighting continues, with the SDF storming the prison to try to stop an ISIS-led break-out attempt.

The fighting has been out of control for five days now, with 45,000 civilians reported displaced, over 3,000 families in the vicinity and an estimated 850 children trapped inside in the line of fire.

On Thursday the US committed airstrikes to foiling the prison break, and now they are reporting “limited ground support” for the Kurdish fighters handling this. Pentagon officials say this includes real-time surveillance.

ISIS is nowhere near the power it was when it held the caliphate, but in recent months has tried to reassert itself in both Syria and Iraq. In this case, it seems that ISIS is being very successful in doing so, and remains a major threat.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.