Syrian government forces advancing into eastern Syria and combating the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are increasingly taking over areas where Islamic State (IS) members have been held in prisons and detention facilities by the SDF. Several locations housing IS detainees have changed hands between the two belligerents, and many are now near the frontline of fighting. There are reports that the SDF has lost control of at least one of the prisons, while others appear to have been taken over by fighters aligned with Damascus.
The government launched an offensive targeting SDF-held areas in Deir Hafer on January 17, and the operation has rapidly gained ground as the SDF has withdrawn. The SDF withdrew from Tabqa on the Euphrates River, followed by leaving Raqqa and other towns and villages in Deir Ezzor Governorate on January 18 and 19.
On January 18, the government and the SDF announced a tentative deal to stop the fighting. One clause in the agreement calls for the administration of facilities and camps holding Islamic State members to be turned over to the Syrian government. As of the evening of January 19, the fighting in eastern Syria has not ceased, and clashes continue to occur near facilities holding IS members.
There are at least 27 detention facilities and two camps that house alleged Islamic State members, according to a 2024 report by Amnesty International. A US State Department report published in August 2025 noted that there were 8,950 male IS members detained by the SDF and around 43,250 “non-combatants, including approximately 25,000 children under 12 years old,” in camps in eastern Syria. The noncombatants include women who may have joined the jihadist group or were married to Islamic State fighters. The male detainees were held in 14 prisons, according to a 2023 Rand Corporation study. While many detainees are Syrian and Iraqi, there are thousands of other foreign Islamic State-linked detainees who come from an estimated 60 countries.
The rapid developments in the conflict between the Syrian government and the SDF mean that many areas are changing hands quickly. Among these sites are several prisons that hold IS members.
“Since the early hours of this morning, Al-Shaddadi Prison, which holds thousands of detainees from the terrorist organization ISIS [Islamic State], has been subjected to repeated attacks carried out by factions affiliated with Damascus,” the Media Center of the Syrian Democratic Forces said on January 19. The SDF said that although the prison is close to a US-led anti-IS coalition base, the coalition did not intervene. “Accordingly, we inform public opinion that Al-Shaddadi Prison has currently fallen outside the control of our forces as a result of these developments,” the SDF said.
Levant24, an independent Syrian media organization, noted on X that the Syrian army would secure Al Shaddadi prison and then hand it over to Syria’s Interior Ministry. “Syrian Arab Army units began entering al-Shaddadi town, south of Hasakah in northeast Syria, on Monday after the SDF released members of the ISIS terrorist organization from al-Shaddadi prison,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) noted on January 19.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said that it would secure areas coming under government control and accused the SDF of exploiting the issue of Islamic State prisoners. “According to the ministry, in line with its constitutional and legal responsibilities, it is fully prepared to assume management and security of ISIS prisons in Hasakah province, applying international standards to prevent security breaches or escape attempts,” SANA added. The Syrian army also called for a curfew in the nearby town of Al Shaddadi due to the prison break.
According to SANA reports, the government believes the SDF is using the issue of prisons as a threat or bargaining tool as the conflict unfolds. The SDF said on January 19 that clashes had also taken place near Al Aqtan prison north of Raqqa, which also contains Islamic State detainees. Farhad Shami, the head of the SDF’s media office, said that there had been three attacks on SDF forces near the prison. Shami also said the SDF had sought to coordinate with the international anti-Islamic State coalition to transfer detainees. However, he claimed that “no practical steps” had occurred.
Iraq has said that it is planning to repatriate the remaining Iraqis held in camps in Syria. The Kurdish Rudaw Media Network noted that Iraq is expected to transfer families from the large Al Hol camp in Syria to a camp in Iraq. “Iraqi interior minister and acting minister of migration and displaced [persons] Abdul-Amir al-Shammari is overseeing the process and is scheduled to visit the Jadaa camp in Nineveh province on Monday,” Rudaw noted. Iraq believes there are fewer than 100 Iraqi families at Al Hol.
Sheikhmous Ahmed, an official responsible for internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees in eastern Syria, told Rudaw that “due to attacks by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham [HTS] militants [who are a [sic] now major part of the Syrian interim government], there is a serious threat to the camps and prisons holding ISIS militants, because those attackers are just like ISIS.” Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa led HTS prior to becoming the transitional president of Syria last year.
As the clashes unfold in eastern Syria, many videos, the claims and authenticity of which cannot be independently verified, have circulated showing alleged battles and other incidents at the prisons and camps on January 18 and 19.
Levant24 published footage of “Syrian army units” reaching “the outskirts of the Al-Aqtaan prison, where forces allied with the SDF remain entrenched and refuse to relinquish control.” Another Levant24 video shows government forces near the town of Al Hol, meaning they were nearing the large camp on its outskirts. Footage posted by Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an author who focuses on Kurdish issues, claimed to show fighting near Al Aqtan prison on the evening of January 19. Another video claimed to show what appeared to be a US A-10 aircraft dropping flares near the prison. A fifth video claimed to show people attempting to flee Al Hol camp. Additional footage allegedly shows women being freed from a prison in Raqqa.
