Isis assault on Syrian prison kills six Kurdish fighters backed by West

Six Kurdish fighters who were part of the forces running eastern Syria with American and British backing were killed fending off an Islamic State assault on a prison.

Isis jihadists attacked the prison in Raqqa, the group’s former capital, yesterday. The jail houses hundreds of Isis inmates, but while the assault was reminiscent of an Isis takeover of a jail in the town of Hasakeh further north in January, it was, in a sign of the group’s diminished strength, on a much smaller scale.

That assault led to a long siege and the deaths of hundreds of fighters and inmates. On this occasion, the fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the West’s main ally in Syria against Isis, were able to prevent the jihadists entering the prison.

Of the six fighters who died, two were with the SDF and four were members of the internal security forces, or asayish, of the Kurdish-led administration of eastern Syria.

The SDF said there were five attackers, two of them wearing suicide belts. One was killed and another arrested, while three escaped. “Following the attack, our forces imposed a complete curfew, and launched a large-scale sweep operation in the city to foil the dangerous and continuous terrorist attack,” a statement said.

Isis lost its last territorial foothold in Syria and Iraq, the village of Baghuz on the banks of the Euphrates, almost four years ago. It continues to threaten towns across Syria and Iraq, however, though the attack in Hasakeh at the beginning of the year was by far its largest recent operation.

There has been a recent surge in American activity targeting the group. US troops carried out three helicopter raids last week alone, capturing six Isis operatives, according to US Central Command.