DAMASCUS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Clashes around a prison housing Islamic State (IS) inmates in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah had killed 151 IS militants, a war monitor said on Thursday.
In addition, about 53 Kurdish security forces and fighters were killed in the clashes, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Jan. 20, IS inmates inside the Sina'a prison, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), started a riot that was coordinated with IS militants from outside, who detonated the prison gates with two booby-trapped vehicles.
The incident triggered clashes between the IS and the SDF, as well as U.S. airstrikes on the areas where the IS fugitives could have sought shelter in.
The violence forced over 3,500 civilians to flee Kurdish-controlled areas in Hasakah to government-controlled areas in the same province.
According to witnesses, the clashes and airstrikes were still ongoing as the SDF forces had so far failed to contain the situation and storm the prison.
Hasakah province is largely controlled by the U.S.-backed SDF in certain areas, particularly in the city of Qamishli, which is still under the control of the Syrian government. ■
