Six Kurdish fighters and two members of the terrorist group were killed during the clashes

Kurdish forces foil a Daesh attack on a prison in Raqqa

photo_camera AFP/DELIL SOULEIMAN - Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) special forces

Daesh has once again launched an attack on a prison in northern Syria in an attempt to free fighters. If earlier this year it tried in Hasakah, this time it was against a security compound near a prison in Raqqa, the former capital of the terrorist organisation in Syria.

However, Daesh "failed to attack the prison" because Kurdish forces "foiled the assault", Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP. Shami also confirmed the deaths of six members of the Kurdish forces and a jihadist militant wearing an explosives belt.  

Separately, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported the death of two Daesh members during the clashes. "The militants were targeting the military intelligence prison," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the SOHR. The prison they tried to storm houses hundreds of jihadists, including 200 senior fighters.

The situation in Raqqa is on high alert. The city authorities have declared a state of emergency and ordered the city closed until further notice. Security forces are still searching the area to arrest more jihadists, as Shami noted.

"The information we have from Raqqa indicates that Daesh cells are preparing dangerous plans," SDF commander Mazoum Abdi said in a statement.  

The terrorist group, meanwhile, has already claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out to "avenge Muslim prisoners" and women fighters living in the Kurdish-run Al-Hol camp. Al-Hol is home to more than 50,000 people, including many family members of Daesh fighters and foreigners of different nationalities.

Both Syria and Iraq are experiencing a dangerous return of Daesh. Last week, nine policemen were killed in a Daesh attack in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk. Similarly, the SOHR has reported 16 operations by the terrorist group against SDF members in Deir Ezzor and Hasakah since the beginning of December.  

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Daesh was defeated in 2019, when it lost its last territories in Syria. However, since then, cells have been organising to carry out new attacks in both countries. The latest major attack took place last January in the city of Hasakah. As in Raqqa, jihadist cells targeted a prison with numerous Daesh fighters. As a result, hundreds of people were killed in the week-long assault on the prison

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