Turkey began its offensive in northern Syria with air strikes against Qamishli, Kobane, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abjad on Wednesday.
In almost all these cities there are prisons in which militants of the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) sit. Often there are improvised detention centers, in Kobane about a former school.
The Syrian-Kurdish SDF fighters must now try to keep the prisoners under their control while fending off the Turkish troops and fighting IS sleeper cells taking advantage of the hour to launch new attacks.
How many IS fighters are imprisoned in northern Syria?
Around 11,000 IS fighters are in custody there, about 9,000 Syrians and Iraqis and 2,000 foreigners, including an estimated 100 Germans. They are distributed to around 50 prisons in northeastern Syria. Most of them are located near the border of Turkey - within the 30 km distance that Turkey wants to occupy in Syria.
In addition there are about 73,000 members of IS fighters, women and children, about 63,000 Syrians and Iraqis and 11,000 foreigners.
Among them are about 120 German children and up to 90 German women. They are held in the camp al-Hol. This is about 60 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border.
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The conditions in the overcrowded camp have been catastrophic for some time. In recent months, IS adherents have been murdering other prisoners, who apparently wanted to turn away from IS.
How should it continue with the prisoners?
After his telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, US President Donald Trump had succinctly announced that Turkey was now responsible for these prisoners. But apparently he himself has his doubts. So Wednesday Trump tweeted that the US had taken the Syrian Kurds now the British "terror Beatles".
This group consists of four men so called because of their origin and British accent. One member is dead, another is in Turkish custody - and the two others are now in custody of the United States, presumably in Iraq. According to The Washington Post, the United States now wants to arrest several dozen particularly dangerous foreign IS fighters in northern Syria.
Its own citizens, about a dozen, have already taken the US Syrian-Kurdish militia off a long time ago. A suspected American IS-sniper is currently in New York in court, threatened with life imprisonment. Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have also brought back their more than 1250 citizens.
Video: Turkey offensive threatens security in Europe
The Europeans, on the other hand, hesitated. Because it could be difficult for European courts to find evidence, for crimes committed in Syria or Iraq. Sweden had proposed an international tribunal for the IS crimes committed in Syria and Iraq.
But this idea is hardly feasible because it would require the approval of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and a resolution of the UN Security Council, which is deeply divided in the Syrian conflict. So far, France, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands have only brought back a total of almost 30 children; Germany also brought back four children from Syria in August.
Erdogan assured on Thursday that Turkey wanted to continue detaining the IS fighters in northern Syria. They should stay there in the prisons if their home countries did not want to bring them back.
What danger do the imprisoned terrorists pose?
But the longer the fighting in northeastern Syria continues, the more likely it is that many of the previously incarcerated IS fighters and their families could escape.
What this means for Syria and Iraq can be surmised: Between autumn 2012 and spring 2013, the predecessor of the IS was able to liberate more than 1,500 jihadists through several spectacular prison slumps in Iraq. A year later, the IS apparently succeeded overnight to conquer large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Trump seems to be unaware of the prospect of thousands of IS supporters breaking out. When addressed at a press conference on Wednesday, he said, "Well, they're going to escape back to Europe."
