Dozens Killed in 3rd Day of ISIS 'Rebellion' in Syria's Hasakeh

Photo released by the SDF showing some ISIS members arrested by Kurdish forces after the attack on Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh, Syria. AP
Photo released by the SDF showing some ISIS members arrested by Kurdish forces after the attack on Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh, Syria. AP
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Dozens Killed in 3rd Day of ISIS 'Rebellion' in Syria's Hasakeh

Photo released by the SDF showing some ISIS members arrested by Kurdish forces after the attack on Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh, Syria. AP
Photo released by the SDF showing some ISIS members arrested by Kurdish forces after the attack on Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh, Syria. AP

Kurdish-led fighters advanced slowly Saturday under the cover of US-led coalition air power in Syria's northeast. Intense clashes with ISIS militants took place around a prison where thousands of extremists were held, officials said.

Fighting broke out Thursday night when ISIS unleashed its biggest attack in Syria since the fall of its so-called “caliphate” three years ago. More than 100 militants assaulted the main prison holding suspected extremists in the northeastern city of Hasakeh, sparking a battle with US-backed Kurdish fighters that has so far left dozens dead.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces lost 17 fighters killed and 23 wounded since the fighting began, spokesman Farhad Shami tweeted Saturday. Dozens of ISIS gunmen were also killed.

Despite their defeat in Syria nearly three years ago, ISIS sleeper cells have carried out deadly attacks against SDF as well as government forces on the west bank of the Tigris River in eastern Syria.

The group’s territorial control in Syria and Iraq, where they once declared their “caliphate” was crushed by a years-long US-backed campaign. But its fighters continued with sleeper cells that have increasingly killed scores of Iraqis and Syrians in past months.

The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces brought more reinforcements into Hasakeh in an attempt to regain control of areas taken by ISIS, residents said. More civilians fled the areas of fighting as sounds of explosions echoed in the city and black smoke billowed from the Gweiran Prison area on the southern edge of Hasakeh.

Hasakeh Gov. Ghassan Khalil told Syrian state media that some 4,000 civilians have fled to areas controlled by Syrian government forces in the city and its suburbs. He told state TV that authorities set up three shelters for the displaced and mosques were also asked to open their doors for those who were forced to leave their homes.

Hasakeh-based journalist Adnan Hassan said in the early afternoon, a large SDF force consisting of scores of fighters, Humvees and vehicles carrying heavy machineguns arrived in the areas to boost the anti-ISIS operations.

SDF fighters “succeeded in thwarting the attempt to free the prisoners but it is not clear when they will have the situation under full control,” Hassan said.

Gweiran Prison is the largest of around a dozen facilities run by US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces holding suspected ISIS fighters. Gweiran holds more than 3,000 inmates, including ISIS commanders and figures considered among the most dangerous.

“The battles are taking place on the edge of the prison,” SDF spokesman Siamand Ali told The Associated Press, adding that most of the prison is under their control apart from a small part that is held by rioting prisoners. He added that fighting is also ongoing in the nearby Zuhour neighborhood, where ISIS fighters were holed up.

Ali said SDF fighters and US-led coalition aircraft targeted a technical academy building where dozens of ISIS "terrorists took positions.” Ali said SDF fighters are advancing slowly in order to protect the lives of civilians as ISIS gunmen are holed up in alleys and in residential homes.

He said the SDF's elite anti-terrorism unit and commandos are leading the operations that intensified Saturday night in neighborhoods east of the prison, where scores of ISIS fighters are holed up. He said SDF officials are at the same time trying to convince rioting detainees to surrender, because a confrontation inside the prison "could have grave consequences” due to the large numbers of detainees.

Ali said some 45 ISIS gunmen were killed in the fighting and dozens of prisoners who fled were recaptured.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that since Thursday night, 89 people have been killed, including 56 IS gunmen, 28 Kurdish fighters and five civilians. The Observatory added that SDF fighters were using loudspeakers to call on ISIS fighters to surrender but the extremists refused.

On Friday, the SDF’s top military commander, Mazloum Abadi, said ISIS mobilized “most of its sleeper cells” to organize the prison break.

The militants, armed with heavy machine guns and vehicles rigged with explosives, attacked Thursday evening, aiming to free their comrades.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Friday the US used airstrikes to support the SDF.

On Friday an SDF spokesman said they recaptured 104 militants who escaped from the prison. But he said the total number who had broken out was not determined.

The ISIS group claimed responsibility for the prison break on its Aamaq news service Friday, describing it as ongoing. Freeing convicts and imprisoned comrades has been a main tactic of the group. During their 2014 surge that overwhelmed territory in Iraq and Syria, ISIS carried out multiple prison breaks.

At its height, the ISIS held about a third of both of Iraq and Syria. The ensuing war against them lasted several years, killed thousands, and left large parts of the two neighboring countries in ruins. It also left US-allied Kurdish authorities in control of eastern and northeastern Syria, with a small presence of several hundred American forces still deployed.



Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
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Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS

Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Türkiye.

Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby, Reuters reported.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK's dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. "May God grant us success in achieving our goals on this path we walk for the security of our country, the peace of our nation, and the establishment of lasting peace in our region," he said on X.

Friday's ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq's north.

The fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group's decision to disarm.

"We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination," she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.

Helicopters hovered overhead, with dozens of Iraqi Kurdish security forces surrounding the mountainous area, a Reuters witness said.

The ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

It was unclear when further handovers would take place.

A senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an "irreversible turning point" in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Türkiye and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.

The PKK has been based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye's southeastern frontier in recent years. Türkiye's military carries out regular strikes on PKK bases in the region and established several military outposts there.

The end of NATO member Türkiye's conflict with the PKK could have consequences across the region, including in neighboring Syria where the United States is allied with Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.

Washington and Ankara want those Kurds to quickly integrate with Syria's security structure, which has been undergoing reconfiguration since the fall in December of autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. PKK disarmament could add to this pressure, analysts say.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Erdogan's government to address Kurdish demands for more rights in regions where Kurds form a majority, particularly Türkiye's southeast where the insurgency was concentrated.

In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan - whose large image was shown at the weapons ceremony - also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the ceremony marked a first step toward full disarmament and a "terror-free Türkiye", adding this must be completed "in a short time".

Erdogan has said the disarmament will enable the rebuilding of Türkiye's southeast.

Türkiye spent nearly $1.8 trillion over the past five decades combating terrorism, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said.