About 950 people associated with the Islamic State escaped a Syrian camp where they were being held as Turkish forces close in on Kurdish-held areas.
The hundreds of ISIS-affiliated foreigners were able to leave the camp after detainees attacked the camp’s guards and fled, according to Fox News. Turkish planes conducted airstrikes in villages near the camp Sunday.
About 12,000 people, including 1,000 foreign women and children with ties to ISIS, are living at the camp.
The Turkish offensive comes after President Trump’s decision to move U.S. troops from northern Syria ahead of Turkey’s planned attack on the Kurds, who fought back ISIS alongside the United States. There has been concern that the Kurds will not be able to contain ISIS prisoners given the Turkish incursion.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a frequent Trump ally, called for Congress to sanction Turkey if it invaded Syria. He also said the U.S. should suspend Turkey’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization if it attacks Kurdish forces there, which it already has.
Turkey regards the Kurdish fighters as terrorists and has vowed to fight them. The U.S. sees both Turkey, a NATO ally, and the Kurds as allies, leading to the complicated situation.
