More than 100 Islamic State prisoners have gone missing since Turkey invaded Syria, and the State Department doesn’t know where they are, the department’s anti-ISIS chief said today.
Ambassador James Jeffrey’s statement came after a question from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, who asked for an update on how many ISIS prisoners may have escaped captivity.
“We would say that the number is now over 100,” Jeffrey said. “We do not know where they are.”
Jeffrey’s statement appears to confirm the worst fears of national security officials and experts who warned that the invasion could open up an opportunity for ISIS prisoners to escape captivity.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was the first to acknowledge the prisoner escapes on Monday, telling CNN, “We’ve only had reports of a little bit more than 100 that have escaped.”
Jeffrey’s statement came before Trump’s announcement of a “permanent ceasefire” between the Kurdish YPG forces and their Turkish adversaries. Trump said YPG Gen. Mazloum Kobani assured him the prisoners were “under very, very strict lock and key, and the detention facilities are being strongly maintained.”
“There were a few that got out, a small number, relatively speaking, and they’ve been largely recaptured,” Trump said.
An estimated 11,000 ISIS prisoners are spread across several makeshift prisons in northern Syria. Some 2,000 are thought to be foreign fighters. Experts worry that the prisoners, if released, could bolster the ISIS insurgency in Iraq and Syria, while foreign fighters could launch attacks in their home countries.
Trump’s announcement follows a temporary five-day ceasefire announced on Thursday. As part of the agreement, a 20-mile-wide “safe zone” will be established along the Turkish-Syrian border in an effort to quell the fighting. In exchange for Turkey’s participation, the Justice Department lifted sanctions imposed after the invasion started earlier this month, though Trump reserved the right to reimpose them should Turkish forces breach the agreement.
The long-anticipated invasion followed Trump’s Oct. 6 announcement of a U.S. troop withdrawal from northern Syria. The area is largely dominated by Kurdish YPG forces, which Turkey considers a branch of the PKK, a designated terrorist organization and longtime Turkish enemy. The YPG, which is part of the broader Syrian Democratic Forces, served as an important ground force in U.S.-backed anti-ISIS operations. Upon learning of the U.S. withdrawal, Kobani reportedly told the U.S., “You are leaving us to be slaughtered.”
Fighting continued despite the temporary ceasefire, according to some reports. Turkish forces have been accused of executions, torture, and other atrocities since the invasion began. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been displaced due to the conflict.
