HASSAKEH, Syria (AP) - Men of various ages and nationalities sit silently in their cells, a small window in the metal doors their only opening to the world. All are alleged members of the Islamic State group, captured during the final days of the extremists’ so-called caliphate declared in large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State members held for years in a Syria prison say they know nothing of the world
HASSAKEH, Syria (AP) - Men of various ages and nationalities sit silently in their cells, a small window in the metal doors their only opening to the world. All are alleged members of the Islamic State group, captured during the final days of the extremists’ so-called caliphate declared in large parts of Iraq and Syria.
The Gweiran Prison, now called Panorama has held about 4,500 IS-linked detainees for years. The Associated Press was given an exclusive visit to the prison, nearly two months after the fall of the 54-year Assad dynasty in Syria - an upheaval the detainees might not even know about as prison officials try to limit outside information.
Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster during a lightning insurgent offensive in December has led to new attention, and new pressures, on such detention centers in the country’s northeast that have been holding some 9,000 IS members without trial.
The centers are guarded by members of the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that in March 2019 captured the last sliver of land that IS members once held, the eastern town of Baghouz.