IS ‘terrorists’ escaping Kurdish jails, says paper

Tens of thousands of IS prisoners, including women and children, are held in the Kurdish zone of northern Syria that is now under Turkish attack. Keystone

Jihadists of Islamic State are taking advantage of the Turkish offensive in northern Syria and breaking out of jail, although the whereabouts of Swiss Jihadists is unclear, says the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.

Five IS “terrorists” have already broken out of jail, and IS-linked women being held in the massive Al-Hol camp tried to stage a mass breakout on Friday, the paper writes. Their Kurdish guards, faced with the Turkish attack, are deserting their posts, it says.

Kurdish authorities announced on Sunday that hundreds of  IS-linked women and children have fled the Ain Issa camp in northern Syria.

NZZ am Sonntag says the whereabouts of Swiss Jihadists, some of whom are being held in northern Syria, is not clear. A woman from Geneva with three daughters is reported to be in the al-Roj camp in the eastern Kurdish region, it writes.

+Read about the Swiss position on IS foreign fighters

The paper also reports growing pressure from Swiss politicians for sanctions against Turkey, including an end to the free trade agreement between the two countries approved by parliament this summer.

On Saturday, several thousand Kurds and their supporters demonstrated in Zurich against the Turkish offensive in Kurdish areas of northern Syria, which began on Wednesday. Demonstrations have also been held in other Swiss cities, including one in Bern on Friday where Turkish property was damaged.

Turkey’s President Erdogan has said he wants to create a “safe zone” in northern Syria free of Kurdish militias which Turkey sees as terrorists. Erdogen says the zone could also be home to more than 3 million Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.