Hundreds feared dead, including children, as week-long Islamic State prison siege ends

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scores of children in northeast Syria are among those feared dead after Islamic State militants held hundreds hostage during an almost week-long siege at one of the country’s largest prisons. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Wednesday that they had finally regained control of the Gweiran prison complex in Hasakah, which houses 3,000 Isis militants, including hundreds of Syrian and foreign children, some as young as 12 years old. The fierce fighting saw Isis militants seize control of a north wing of the complex, using child inmates as “human shields”, SDF spokesperson Ferhad Shami told The Independent. “What more will it take for ministers to heed the warnings of our closest allies that Britain’s refusal to take responsibility for its citizens has potentially catastrophic security implications?” Maya Foa from UK-based charity Reprieve, which has been supporting British families stuck in Syria after the collapse of Isis, said it was very likely Britons were inside Gweiran, although they had essentially been held incommunicado.