ISIS in January 2026: the most important developments in security
The Islamic State featured in January 2026 mainly through the fate of its detainees in Syria. On 19 January the Syrian government accused the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of deliberately releasing ISIS detainees from a prison in Hasakah, calling it a serious security breach, and said the Syrian army was ready to take over the prisons. Turkey rejected claims that it aided the release. The next day, hundreds of ISIS prisoners escaped from a detention center after fighting between armed groups; the number of escapees was put at between 120 and 1,500. The SDF, which had been guarding the site, withdrew, and the United States said its formal mission to support the force had largely expired. Dozens of escapees were reported arrested as Syrian forces deployed east of the Euphrates.
On 21 January the Syrian army took control of the Al-Hol camp, which holds thousands of people linked to the Islamic State. That day the US military began moving ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq, starting with at least 150 prisoners; by 22 January reports spoke of thousands. Iraq said it would open three prisons for them and begin legal proceedings, and asked the European Union to take back its citizens among them. UN agencies took responsibility for camps holding ISIS families. By 30 January the US had slowed the transfers, and Syria was seeking to close the camps.
Elsewhere, the Islamic State claimed a deadly attack on an airport in Niger on 30 January. Brazilian police arrested a suspect accused of plotting an Islamic State bomb attack, and Turkey carried out an operation in several provinces targeting the group's finances.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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