Out of reach of aerial attacks | ISIS gunmen holed up in well-fortified basements in Ghuwayran prison and swear to fight to death
Death toll jumps to 260, after retrieving more bodies
Al-Hasakah province: SOHR sources have reported that inspection and combing operations are still ongoing in the quarters and buildings of Ghuwayran / Al-Sina’a prison in Al-Hasakah city, from which prisoners have been evacuated. Meanwhile, tens of ISIS gunmen are still stationed in the prison’s basements, where the military forces are not able to get closer to these well-fortified basements. According to SOHR sources, these basements are out of reach of the airstrikes by the International Coalition. While the military forces have tended so far to wait until hanger force ISIS gunmen to surrender.
SOHR sources have also reported that ISIS fighters have sworn to fight to death and refused to surrender whatever happens.
The ongoing operations inside the prison coincide with ongoing inspection and combing campaigns in the neighbourhoods of Al-Naseriyyah, Al-Mufti, Ghuwayran, Al-Zuhour and other areas, searching for ISIS cells.
On the other hand, reliable SOHR sources have confirmed that the military forces have found the bodies of 18 combatants during the combing operations inside Ghuwayran prison, as they had been killed by ISIS members. SOHR has also documented the death of seven ISIS members in airstrikes by International Coalition aircraft on positions where ISIS members holed up nearby the prison.
Accordingly, the total death toll since the start of Ghuwayran prison break on January 20 evening has reached 260: 180 ISIS fighters, seven civilians and 73 members of Asayish Forces, prison guards, counter-terrorism forces and SDF.
The Syrian Observatory asserts that this death toll is not definitive and expected to rise further in light of the ongoing combing campaigns, as more bodies are expected to be found. In addition, there are many people who have sustained serious injuries.