Germany alarmed by reports of IS militants escaping Syrian prisons

Reports of militants from the Islamic State escaping from prisons in Syria are causing concern among Germany’s security authorities.

In recent days, Syria’s transitional government has advanced further into areas in the country’s north-east that were previously under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), prompting the SDF to withdraw from several camps and prisons that they controlled which held Islamic State fighters and their relatives.

Government troops have since taken control of al-Shaddadi prison, the al-Hol camp and possibly another prison in Raqqa.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said this process, which was accompanied by violent clashes, “very likely led to breakouts and uncontrolled releases.”

According to its information, some 40 people holding German citizenship were in the custody of Kurdish forces prior to the start of the offensive. An overview of how many of them may have escaped during the fighting in recent days is not yet available.

On Wednesday, the US Central Command said it had launched a new mission to transfer up to 7,000 Islamic State detainees from north-eastern Syria to Iraqi facilities amid the growing instability.

When asked about German Islamic State fighters on Wednesday, a spokesman from the German Foreign Office said there are currently no plans to repatriate the men imprisoned there.

The domestic intelligence service considers people returning from Syria who have been trained in the use of weapons and indoctrinated with Islamist ideology or traumatized by their experiences to pose a high risk.

It has also warned against underestimating the women and children who have been held in al-Hol camp for years, saying they could be “highly traumatized and radicalized.”