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Islamic State militants escape, clash with police at Syria prison

Security officials show a group of suspected militants accused of planning attacks on government and security forces in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on March 10. In Syria Monday, a group of militants clashed with security forces in northeast Syria after a prison break. Photo by Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA-EFE
Security officials show a group of suspected militants accused of planning attacks on government and security forces in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on March 10. In Syria Monday, a group of militants clashed with security forces in northeast Syria after a prison break. Photo by Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA-EFE

March 30 (UPI) -- Several Islamic State militants have escaped from a prison in Syria following a riot in which the inmates tore down doors and broke through a wall, officials said.

Authorities said the prisoners took control of one floor of the facility in Hasakah, a city in northeastern Syria run by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

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"[Islamic State] terrorists managed to take over the first floor in Hasakah prison removing internal walls and doors," SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Twitter Sunday. "Some of them managed to escape and our forces are searching to capture them. Anti-terror forces are dealing with the situation on the first floor to finish riots in the prison."

Officials said the inmates reached the prison courtyard where at least four managed to escape. Prisoners remained in control of some sections of the prison early Monday, officials said.

"The situation is tense," Bali added.

Col. Myles Caggins III, the U.S. military spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, said coalition forces helped the SDF on Monday with aerial surveillance around the Hasakah detention facility.

Local news outlets reported that four escapees were recaptured, but that hadn't been confirmed by the SDF.

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Syrian media reported Monday the prison holds about 3,000 Islamic State militants from various countries, and that shooting had been heard in the southern countryside of Hasakah.

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