NEW: U.S. Forces Thwart Large ISIS Jail Break In Covert Operation
In a covert operation coordinated across multiple U.S .agencies, American forces successfully thwarted a potential large-scale prison break involving nearly 6,000 ISIS detainees in northern Syria.
The effort, which unfolded over several weeks in early 2026, involved transferring the detainees to a secure facility in Iraq. This averted what a scenario that would have significantly bolstered the extremist group’s numbers and potentially led to the biggest ISIS territorial reconstitution since 2019.
The plot came to light through intelligence assessments beginning in late October 2025, when warnings indicated that Syria’s shifting power dynamics could create opportunities for disorder and escapes from detention facilities, according to a report from Fox News citing senior officials familiar with the operation.
Concerns intensified in early January 2026 as fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, spread eastward. This threatened the stability of prisons guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The detainees, held in northern Syria and characterized by a senior US intelligence official as “the worst of the worst,” included high-risk ISIS fighters whose release could have immediate battlefield implications.
US officials believed that a collapse of these facilities amid the chaos would result in thousands of militants returning to combat, potentially reversing years of counterterrorism progress in Syria and the broader Levant region.
SDF fighters during the Northern Raqqa Offensive against ISIS territory in November 2016
Photo: VOA
The response involved a multi-agency effort overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), with daily coordination calls among various US entities. Diplomatic negotiations secured cooperation from the SDF and the Iraqi government, while US Central Command (CENTCOM) surged resources, including helicopters, to facilitate the rapid transport of detainees.
FBI teams assisted with biometric enrollment in Iraq to aid identification and future prosecutions. The transfers were completed in a matter of weeks, moving the detainees to a facility near Baghdad International Airport under Iraqi custody, a senior official told Fox News in a detailed overview of the operation.
The operation ultimately thwarted the planned jailbreak and also supported declassification of intelligence for legal proceedings against the fighters.
“If these 6,000 or so got out and returned to the battlefield, that would basically be the instant reconstitution of ISIS,” the senior U.S. official told Fox News, adding that the threat was viewed as a “severe crisis situation.”
The official credited CENTCOM’s surge of resources to assist the ground operation, saying that “moving in helicopters” and other assets enabled detainees to be removed in a compressed timeframe. “Thanks to the efforts… moving in helicopters, moving in more resources, and then just logistically making this happen, we were able to get these nearly 6000 out in the course of just a few weeks,” the official said.
While the jailbreak was averted, the official noted that ISIS presents consistent threats to stability in Syria. The group has not held continuous territory in Syria since 2019, though they continue to operate in cells throughout the Syrian desert.
These cells have carried out hundreds of attacks and targeted assassinations over the last several years. The situation has become increasingly fragile following the fall of the Assad regime, as the beleaguered Syrian government — which consists of a patchwork of former jihadists and other anti-Assad elements — struggles to secure its territory.
The al-Hol camp, which houses ISIS families, has reportedly been taken over by the Syrian government, leading to releases that US officials view as troubling. “As you can see from social media, the al-Hol camp is pretty much being emptied out… it appears the Syrian government has decided to let them go free… That is very concerning,” the senior official told Fox News.
The Syrian government has gained recognition from world governments, including the United States, though the Trump Administration has urged caution.
“We don’t have an embassy in Syria. It’s operating out of Türkiye. But we need to help them. We want to help that government succeed because the alternative is full-scale civil war and chaos, which would of course destabilize the entire region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this past June.