The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Monday that an "armed group" was attacking Shaddadi prison in Hasaka in Syria's northeast, where it said thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists were being held.
The SDF had said earlier in the day that it was clashing with Syrian government forces near Al-Aqtan prison on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa, which also held IS detainees. Raqqa was once the seat of a short-lived IS-declared "caliphate" in the region.
Dozens of SDF fighters were "martyred" in the clashes, with others injured, the organization said, blaming the attacks on Damascus.
The SDF described the clashes as a "highly dangerous development" and said government forces seizing the prison "could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism."
"Although Al-Shaddadi Prison is located approximately two kilometers from the International Coalition base in the area, the base did not intervene, despite repeated calls for intervention," the SDF accused.
Under a sweeping integration deal between the SDF and Damascus agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing IS detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
After days of fighting with government forces, the autonomy-minded SDF, once the main US allies in Syria, agreed on Sunday to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years, including oil fields.
Government troops tightened their grip
Syrian government troops tightened their grip on Monday across a swathe of northern and eastern territory abruptly abandoned on Sunday by the SDF in a dramatic shift that consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule.
In the wake of the deal, government internal security forces and military police were setting up checkpoints and checking IDs in Raqqa. Security sources there said Raqqa had been cleared of SDF fighters overnight.
Syria announces curfew in Shaddadi after escape of IS terrorists from prison
The Syrian army on Monday imposed a total curfew in the city of Shaddadi in the Hasaka area of the country's northeast, state news agency SANA reported, after the escape of Islamic State terrorists from the city prison.
It said the army would comb the city in search of the terrorists, who slipped away during clashes between the army and Kurdish-led regional forces.
On Sunday, a security source reported that dozens of ISIS terrorists escaped from al-Ma'amel prison after the SDF withdrew from the area, according to Iraqi outlet al-Maalomah.
"These escapees pose a significant security threat to the region, especially given their proximity to al-Hol camp, which houses thousands of families and members of the organization," the source told the outlet.
Another source told the same outlet that a heavy security alert was issued for Iraq's Anbar Province, fearing a possible terror infiltration across the Syria-Iraq border.