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A6 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 29 January 2022
Syrian fighters set deadline for IS gunmen to surrender

BEIRUT (AP) — U.S.- The Hawar News Agency,
backed Kurdish-led fight- ANHA, an online Kurdish
ers searched Friday near news service, reported that
a Syrian prison for Islamic several automatic rifles, a
State group militants and rocket-propelled grenade
gave an ultimatum to and hand grenades were
dozens of armed extrem- confiscated from the IS
ists holed up in a small gunmen who surrendered
part of the jail to surren- Friday. It added that SDF
der or face an all-out at- fighters are conducting
tack, a Kurdish official said. search operations in the
About a half-dozen IS fight- prison as well as several
ers surrendered Friday Hassakeh neighborhoods
morning, among scores of in search for IS sleeper cells.
militants hiding in a base- The SDF said about 3,000
ment in the northern section inmates have surrendered
of the prison, according since its operation to retake
to Siamand Ali, a spokes- the prison's northern wing
man for the U.S.-backed began three days ago.
Syrian Democratic Forces. At least 300 foreign child
He would not confirm or detainees are believed
deny a report by the Brit- to be held in the Gweiran
ain-based Syrian Obser- facility. Thousands more,
vatory for Human Rights, mostly under the age of 12,
an opposition war moni- are held with their mothers
tor, that SDF fighters dis- in locked camps in other
covered the bodies of parts of northeastern Syria
18 of their comrades in- Syrian Democratic Forces soldier talks on a radio in Hassakeh, northeast Syria, Thursday, Jan. 27, on suspicion of being fami-
side Gweiran prison, also 2022. lies of IS members. Most
known as al-Sinaa prison, Associated Press countries have refused to
in northeast Syria on Friday. repatriate them, with only
The Islamic State group's into a conflict zone. The some to escape but also and are trying to convince 25 out of 60 countries tak-
Jan. 20 attack on the pris- Kurdish-led administration took hostages, includ- them to surrender," he said. ing back their children,
on was the biggest military declared a curfew and ing child detainees, and "We gave them a dead- some without their mothers.
operation by the extrem- sealed off the city, bar- clashed with SDF fighters in line and we are besieg- The Britain-based Obser-
ist group since the fall of ring movement in and out. violence that killed dozens. ing them," Ali said by tele- vatory put the death toll
their self-declared caliph- Thousands of people The SDF had said that be- phone from Hassakeh. from the struggle at over
ate in 2019. It came as the in Hassakeh were dis- tween 60 and 90 militants He refused to say when 260, including over 180
militants staged deadly at- placed in recent days were hiding out in the north- the ultimatum ends militants and more than 73
tacks in both Syria and Iraq because of the fighting. ern section of the prison. and the attack be- fighters from the Kurdish-
that stoked fears that IS may The SDF claimed Wednes- Ali said the militants are in gins, for security reasons. led force. At least seven
be staging a comeback. day it had regained full the basement of a two-sto- The Observatory said civilians were killed in the
The weeklong assault on control of the prison — a ry building and that those SDF fighters are betting fighting, the Observatory
one of the largest deten- week after scores of mili- who remain inside are refus- that more time will force said. The SDF said prelimi-
tion facilities in Syria has tants overran the facil- ing to surrender. "Our units IS militants to surrender nary information put the
turned the city of Hassakeh ity. The attackers allowed are surrounding the building as their food dwindles. force's death toll at 35.q

W. African regional bloc suspends Burkina Faso after coup

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — neighboring Mali after a do, the current ECOWAS
West African neighbor coup there in August 2020 chairman, called the re-
states on Friday suspended and then took similar ac- cent spate of coups in West
Burkina Faso in the after- tion against Guinea after Africa "a direct violation of
math of this week's coup, the president was over- our democratic tenets."
making it the third nation thrown last September. "The rest of the world is look-
in the regional bloc to be Mali is also under punish- ing up to us to be firm on
punished for a military take- ing economic sanctions, this matter," he said.
over in only 18 months, of- including flight bans and ECOWAS has faced criti-
ficials said. asset freezes, after its coup cism for its handling of the
The announcement from leader failed to organize coups, particularly in Mali
the bloc known as ECOWAS elections within 18 months where mediators negoti-
came days after more than as promised. ated with the junta on the
a dozen mutinous soldiers West African leaders met 18-month deadline for
went on state television in virtually Friday to discuss holding democratic elec-
People take to the streets of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Jan. Burkina Faso to announce the Burkina Faso coup, and tions. Mali's coup leader
25, 2022 to rally in support of the new military junta that ousted their military takeover of a delegation was expect- has said that won't be
democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore
and seized control of the country. the country — that's under ed to travel to Ouagadou- met, citing security condi-
Associated Press siege from Islamic extremist gou in the coming days. tions, and has announced
attacks. Ghanaian President Nana a vote four years from now
By FRANCIS KOKUTSE and SAM MEDNICK ECOWAS had suspended Addo Dankwa Akufo-Ad- instead.q