Syria Kurds Say Prison Recaptured after IS Attack

U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria said Wednesday they had fully recaptured a prison that was attacked by the Islamic State group, ending the country's biggest jihadist assault in three years.

In a statement, Farhad Shami of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said operations since the attack started last Thursday had "culminated with our entire control" over the prison after all holdout IS fighters surrendered.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that the SDF was mostly in control of the prison in Hasakeh, a northeastern city held by a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration.

But the war monitoring group cautioned that the SDF have not yet combed all areas inside the jail, warning that potential hideout jihadists may still be present.

More than 100 jihadists attacked Ghwayran prison on January 20 in a brazen assault that involved a double suicide truck bombing and saw the militants free fellow IS members, seize weapons and take over several cell blocks.

It is considered the most sophisticated attack carried out by the group since it was territorially defeated in Syria nearly three years ago.

Heavy fighting in and around the prison since Thursday has killed 181 people, including 124 IS jihadists, 50 Kurdish fighters and seven civilians, says the Observatory.

According to the war monitor, an unknown number of jihadists had managed to escape but their exact number was not immediately clear.