Nearly 100 prisoners escape ISIS jail in northern Syria, monitor says

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
The estimated 95 prisoners who escaped an Islamic State-run prison in al-Bab, about 20 miles from the Turkish border, include 30 Kurdish fighters, Syrian civilians, and Islamic fighters opposed to ISIS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. ISIS has put al-Bab on high alert, calling for residents to recapture the jail-breakers, the Observatory said, citing their sources in the town.
Al-Bab was also the scene of a fight over the weekend between mostly European ISIS fighters trying to escape to Turkey and Syrian ISIS fighters trying to stop them, the Observatory said, adding that nine ISIS fighters died. Conflicts between foreign and local ISIS militants is taking its toll on the self-proclaimed caliphate, according to residents of ISIS-occupied areas.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Support schemes to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder
The Explainer Purchasing a home is expensive but first-time buyers can get help
By Marc Shoffman, The Week UK Published
-
Chris Packham: Is It Time to Break the Law? review
Channel 4 documentary grapples with 'profound' questions about the 'climate apocalypse'
By The Week Staff Published
-
How do we calculate mass deaths?
The Explainer Recent revisions to 9/11 victims, Libyan flood casualties and Covid-19 death toll raise questions over estimates
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Tuberville's military promotions block is upending lives, combat readiness, 3 military branch chiefs say
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Ukraine's counteroffensive is making incremental gains. Does it matter in the broader war?
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
US commissions first-ever Navy ship in a foreign port
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
British spy chief, Wagner video suggest Prigozhin is alive and freely 'floating around'
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
The US will soon finish destroying its last chemical weapons
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Putin and Prigozhin offer rival explanations for Wagner's brief rebellion
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
The future of the Wagner Group is murky
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Wagner Group stops armed rebellion toward Moscow
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published