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In Plain Sight: Mass ISIS Prison Break As US Shrugs

Tyler Durden's Photo
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Jan 21, 2026 - 02:20 AM

At various points over the past decade-plus, events in Syria often drove global headlines - particularly when the West was eyeing the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. Allegations of mass killings and chemical weapons dominated the opening years of the proxy war there, which then gave way scary news flashes about the Islamic State establishing its 'caliphate'. The US then "had to" send troops and warplanes to northern Syria, where Assad was weakest, in support of the Syrian Kurds (namely the YPG), who were strongest.

Not long ago, a large ISIS prison break would have dominated CNN's coverage, but now with regime change in Damascus a fait accompli - and with a hardline US-backed Sunni regime under Syrian AQ founder Jolani/Sharaa in power, and CNN barely notices when all hell breaks lose anew. In the meantime there's no emergency White House or State Dept. press briefing (which seemed a daily thing in 2015-2015)... instead move it along folks, nothing to see here seems to be the order of the day. 

On Tuesday, spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Farhad Shami, said that around 1,500 Islamic State members escaped from Syria's Shaddadi prison in the east of the country. Also, Kurdish fighters were forced to withdraw from and abandon the notorious al-Hol camp near the city of Hasaka. ISIS members and their families have been seen escaping into the desert after years in the closely guarded desert, fenced-in camp.

via AFP

Jolani's Syrian (HTS) army has also confirmed that "a number of" Islamic State fighters had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi.

The incident came in the context of Jolani's forces attacking the US-backed SDF, which had long guarded the prison camp which housed ISIS terrorists, foreign fighters, and their families.

The United States has long occupied northeast Syria, in support of the Kurish-led SDF - which Washington has armed and trained - but astoundingly US troops are stepping aside and appear to be pulling out of the area in order to let Damascus forces in. Washington not long ago regularly even sent airpower to support its Kurdish proxies, but now there's nothing.

The US is also very obviously stepping aside as Syrian forces take all the oil and gas fields too.

It's all happening so fast as to seem perfectly by design. Kurdish cries and condemnations of the US has abandoned us yet again! are falling on deaf ears for the umpteenth time.

Rudaw has cited SDF leadership to say the so-called US coalition to defeat ISIS has exhibited "indifference" as Islamic State terrorists run free:

More than 25,000 people with suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) were being held at the notorious al-Hol camp near the city of Hasaka before the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew on Tuesday, following attacks by Damascus-affiliated forces, a Kurdish official told Rudaw English.

The SDF pulled out its forces from the camp, citing intense attacks by the Syrian Arab Army and its affiliated armed groups on the Kurdish personnel stationed there. The Kurdish-led forces attributed their decision to the "indifference" of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and its failure to protect the camp.

The SDF statement further said "it remains unclear how many detainees have fled and who currently controls the camp."

Damascus has accused the SDF of releasing the escaped ISIS members, while SDF fighters have said Syrian government forces spoke as if they were 'liberating' the ISIS camp.

The latter is probably more correct, as the HTS fighters under Jolani share the same ideology as ISIS terrorists. This has been demonstrated time and again. It's even more out in the open than most realize:

Indeed some of the available evidence shows ISIS members celebrating the arrival of their Sunni fundamentalist comrades...

Even the NY Times admits the truth in its Tuesday headline: U.S. Shifts Away From Kurdish-Led Forces in Fight Against ISIS - and describes:

“The families are fleeing from the camp,” said Ms. Hanan, who was in the nearby city of Qamishli. “They are burning the buildings and offices. There is chaos.” She said she was receiving updates from people still working in the camp.

The S.D.F., with American backing, led a campaign for years that stripped the Islamic State of territory it had seized during the country’s long-running civil war. The Kurdish-led militia captured thousands of Islamic State fighters along the way and tens of thousands of their family members. For years, the S.D.F. has secured the prisons and detention camps.

...“Today, the situation has fundamentally changed,” Mr. Barrack said in a post on X. He went on, “The original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired...”

A mere "shift" away?...

Damascus has claimed to have rearrested some of the ISIS members who broke out, but it's hard to believe anything the new regime in Damascus says. The US under Obama thought it could 'manage' ISIS, and indeed it served its purpose in overthrowing Assad, and now the Pentagon is finally withdrawing.

When even Lindsey Graham admits the truth of what's happening...

Independent journalist Aaron Maté writes of the latest developments, "If I'm following the news out of Syria correctly, the country's ruling Al Qaeda offshoot is committing new atrocities against Kurds while releasing ISIS prisoners. The dirty war continues."

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