US to move 7,000 Daesh prisoners from Syria to Iraq

• The US military has launched a large-scale operation to transfer up to 7,000 Daesh detainees from unstable facilities in northeast Syria to secure locations in Iraq, as the Syrian government forces take over formerly Kurdish-held territory.
• Despite a newly brokered truce, the Syrian army and SDF have traded accusations of lethal drone and artillery strikes, amid reports that over 100 Daesh prisoners escaped from Shaddadi prison and guards abandoned the notorious Al-Hol camp during the chaotic handover.

The United States said it launched an operation Wednesday that could move thousands of Daesh fighters from Syria to Iraq, as Syrian and Kurdish-led forces traded accusations of breaching a fragile ceasefire.

The move came a day after Washington said the purpose of its alliance with the Syrian Kurds had largely ended, with the US now backing Syria's new authorities who are seeking to extend their grip on the country after years of civil war.

Syria's army entered the vast Al-Hol camp that houses suspected Daesh relatives on Wednesday after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew.

The SDF, backed by a US-led coalition, battled Daesh to their territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.

During the fighting, the Kurds seized swathes of territory, jailed some 12,000 members of the group -- including up to 3,000 foreigners from more than 50 countries -- and detained tens of thousands of their relatives in camps in the northeast.

The US military said Wednesday it had launched an operation to move 7,000 Daesh prisoners from Syria to Iraq.

The aim of the operation -- which began with the movement of 150 fighters -- is to "help ensure the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities," US Central Command said in a statement.

Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said on X that the move suggested the US military didn't think "the situation is stable enough to keep them there".

Damascus' forces have taken control of swathes of formerly Kurdish-held territory in the north and east.

That has included a deal struck over the weekend between the two sides that will see the Kurds' administration integrated into the state, while the government will take responsibility for Daesh prisoners.

“Living a tragedy”

Damascus and the Kurds traded accusations of attacks despite a truce announced Tuesday.

The defence ministry said an SDF drone strike targeted an arms factory that its forces found in Hasakeh province, causing a blast that killed seven soldiers.

It said a total of 11 people had been killed since the ceasefire.

The army condemned the incident as "a dangerous escalation and clear violation of the ceasefire".

The SDF denied attacking the factory, saying "an accident during the transfer of ammunition by Damascus factions" caused the blast.

It said it was committed to the truce, which ends Saturday evening, and accused the government of carrying out "a series of attacks", one of which killed a woman near Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on the border with Turkey.

Kurdish forces drove Daesh from Kobane in 2015 and the city became a symbol of their victory against the group.

On Tuesday, the Syrian interior ministry said 120 Daesh members escaped from the Shadadi prison in Hasakeh province, later saying it had arrested "81 of the fugitives".