Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said Kurdish militia in northern Syria allowed 750 Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists to escape from detention camps, adding that 195 of them were recaptured by Turkish troops, the BBC Turkish service reported.
Local Kurdish authorities, on the other hand, blamed Turkey’s operations Syria for the escape of the ISIL terrorists.
The ISIL prisoners began to riot and scared off their guards after Turkish shells landed close by, The Guardian reported, citing officials from the Ain Issa camp where the ISIL militants were held with their families.
Turkey launched a military operation in northeastern Syria on Oct. 9 targeting Kurdish militia.
US Vice President Mike Pence met with Turkish President Erdoğan on Thursday and brokered a five-day ceasefire to allow the Kurdish forces to leave designated areas.
Erdoğan said 20 civilians living in Turkish towns near Syrian border died due to shelling from the Kurdish militia, while 74 militants from the Free Syrian Army were killed in the clashes.