Shamima Begum security fears as 1,500 Islamic State terrorists escape from Syria jail

The Syrian military confirmed that a (Image: BBC)

Fears have been raised about the security of jails and camps holding British jihadists, including Shamima Begum, after Islamic State militants escaped from a prison in eastern Syria, reports The Times.

The Syrian military confirmed that a "number" of inmates had broken out of a jail in Shaddadi, which holds thousands of people, with Kurdish website Rudaw reporting that around 1,500 ISIS members had fled.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish group responsible for running prisons and camps holding ISIS members in eastern Syria, said it lost control of the Shaddadi facility after coming under attack by the government's military.

While the main prison in Hasakah, which holds several British jihadists, including Hamza Pervez, appeared to be safe, concerns have been raised about the fate of inmates linked to ISIS as the Kurdish group has signed a deal to hand over control of the prisons and detention centres to the Syrian government.

Begum held in internment camp further northeast

Shamima Begum, who travelled to Syria as a teenager to become an ISIS bride and has since been stripped of her British nationality, is being held in Roj, an internment camp for extremists' relatives located further northeast.

The SDF, backed by western countries and instrumental in the fight against ISIS during the group's so-called caliphate from 2014 to 2019, has carved out an autonomous region in northeastern Syria. However, the new government headed by President Sharaa, a former rebel leader, has sought to bring the region under its authority.

After several days of fighting, the SDF signed a ceasefire deal with Sharaa on Sunday, agreeing to join his military and hand over the prisons and camps to government forces. SDF officials expressed wariness about giving the prisons to Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander, and his troops, many of whom are former jihadists.

Shamima Begum passing through security barriers at Gatwick Airport (Image: Met Police)Concerns over ISIS taking advantage of new government

Mazloum Abdi, the SDF leader, noted that Sharaa's government had heeded international demands to be inclusive of minorities, suggesting that ISIS would take advantage of this by appealing to disgruntled hardliners.

Despite Sharaa's past fight against ISIS and abandonment of ties with al-Qaeda, there are concerns that the group's best hope is to stage prison breaks to replenish its ranks, as it has been reduced to several hundred fighters in Syria.

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Twenty British women, forty children, and ten men are believed to be held in the facilities previously controlled by the Kurdish group, which has sought to repatriate the prisoners to their home countries, with most refusing to accept the jihadists back.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood stated that the government would "robustly defend" the decision to strip Begum, now 26, of her British citizenship, despite recent calls for an investigation by the European Court of Human Rights.

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