Daesh (ISIS) said Thursday it had "freed" women held by Syria's Kurds, the latest in a series of reported breakouts since Turkey launched a cross-border offensive last week.
In a statement released on the Telegram messaging application, Daesh said it had stormed a security headquarters west of its former stronghold of Raqa Wednesday, "freeing Muslim women kidnapped" by Kurdish forces.
It did not give a number or say if the women were Daesh members or wives of militants.
The prospect that thousands of the world's most fanatic militants could break out in the chaos caused by Turkey's invasion of northeastern Syria is causing widespread alarm.
European governments fear it could lead to a resurgence of the group that has wreaked havoc through attacks in the West and formerly controlled parts of Syria and Iraq.
According to the Kurds hundreds of Daesh relatives have already tried to escape since Ankara launched its offensive on October 9.
On Sunday, Kurdish authorities said nearly 800 relatives of foreign militants had escaped from a Kurdish-run displacement camp in the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa.
At least three French women who had left the camp have since joined up with Daesh, according to messages they sent to their lawyer, seen by AFP.
Five Daesh militants escaped from a prison near the northeastern city of Qamishli last week, according to Kurdish forces.
On Tuesday, a breakout attempt was foiled in the infamous Al-Hol camp, which is so overcrowded that wardens are struggling to control riot.
According to the Kurdish administration, there are around 12,000 suspected Daesh fighters in the custody of Kurdish security forces across prisons in northeastern Syria.
At least 2,500 of them are non-Iraqi foreigners of more than 50 different nationalities. Tunisia is thought to have the biggest contingent.
The detained fighters have thousands of relatives - mostly women and children - held in displacement camps.
Al-Hol alone holds 68,000 prisoners, mostly relatives of current or former Daesh members, according to the United Nations.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Wednesday they were suspending operations against Daesh.
"We have frozen all our actions against Daesh," SDF head Mazloum Abdi told Kurdish television channel Ronahi.
The SDF, which helped defeat Daesh with the support of the U.S.-led coalition, said it would only carry out defensive operations.
AFP
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