Turkey's attacks in Syria could free ISIS prisoners

By David Ignatius / The Washington Post

By acquiescing to Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria on Wednesday, President Trump has opened the door to what could become a genuine nightmare for the United States and its allies: the revival of the deadly terrorist organization that called itself the Islamic State.

The danger lies not simply in the group’s sleeper cells that are still active — and that detonated three suicide bombs in the terrorists’ former capital of Raqqa on Wednesday. The larger risk comes from about 11,000 Islamic State fighters who have been detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led militia that Trump is abandoning, and who may now try to flee.

As the SDF mobilizes to combat the Turks, security at nearly 20 makeshift prisons is likely to deteriorate, U.S. officials said. The U.S. military has said that it won’t take control, nor will European allies. Turkey’s claim that it can police the camps is hollow, given that many of these terrorists arrived in Syria after passing through Turkey.

The cascade of bad events could get worse if action isn’t taken quickly. U.S. officials fear that as security deteriorates, U.N. relief agencies may abandon control of a camp called al-Hol, which holds more than 70,000 refugees, more than 25 percent of whom are relatives of killed or captured Islamic State fighters. Riots have rocked al-Hol in recent days, and visitors say that some areas are too dangerous to enter.

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