US officials have said that a potential prison break involving thousands of Islamic State detainees in northern Syria could have “changed the region, and possibly the world, overnight”, describing a behind-the-scenes operation to transfer the inmates to Iraq as a race against time.

According to Fox News, around 6,000 Islamic State (IS) prisoners described by a senior US intelligence official as “the worst of the worst” were being held in northern Syria as clashes and instability threatened the Kurdish-led nsy responsible for guarding the facilities.

US officials believed that a collapse of the prisons amid the chaos would have immediate consequences. “If those 6,000 get out and return to the battlefield, that is effectively an immediate reconstitution of ISIS,” the official said.

The official outlined step by step the multi-agency effort that led to the transfer of thousands of IS detainees from Syria to Iraq, describing weeks of intelligence warnings, rapid diplomacy, and an urgent military airlift.

While male fighters were moved to Iraq, the wives and children of Islamic State members remain in what the official described as “fragile” detention camps in Syria now under Damascus’s control, leaving the broader detention crisis unresolved.

The risks had been building for months, the official said. In late October 2025, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard began assessing the situation in Syria, warning that the country’s transition could slide into chaos and create conditions for a catastrophic prison break.

The official was dispatched to Syria and Iraq to begin early talks with the SDF and the Iraqi government on how to relocate the most dangerous detainees before events spiralled.

Fears intensified in early January as fighting erupted in Aleppo and spread eastward. “We saw a sharp crisis situation,” the official said.

According to the source, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence coordinated daily inter-agency efforts as the situation escalated. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio handled the day-to-day political aspects, while a task force including US Central Command, diplomats and intelligence officials grappled with what the official described as the pressing question: “How do you prevent roughly 6,000 ISIS fighters from disappearing into the fog of war?”

Iraqi authorities recognised the gravity of the situation, fearing that a mass escape could see detainees cross the border and revive a threat Iraq still remembers bitterly. Iraqi leaders understood that such a breakout could return the country to “a 2014 scenario when ISIS was back on the border”, the official said.

The US embassy in Baghdad played a key diplomatic role in preparing the ground for the large-scale logistical operation.

The field transfer phase was carried out using helicopters and additional resources, enabling the detainees to be moved within a short timeframe. “Because of this effort, we were able to move roughly 6,000 detainees in just a matter of weeks,” the official said.

The SDF continued securing the prisons, but their engagement in other fighting raised US concerns that a single breach could trigger a mass escape. The detainees have now been transferred to Iraq and are being held at a facility near Baghdad International Airport under Iraqi government authority.

The next phase focuses on verification and accountability. FBI teams are conducting biometric registration of the detainees, while US and Iraqi officials are reviewing what intelligence can be declassified for use in prosecutions. The State Department is also pressing countries of origin to take responsibility for their nationals and encouraging repatriation.

However, the transfer did not include family members held in camps such as al-Hol, leaving what officials describe as a major security and humanitarian challenge unresolved.

The official said “the SDF and the Syrian government had reached an understanding under which Damascus would assume management of al-Hol camp, which houses thousands of women and children linked to the group.”

The camp “appears to be slowly emptying out”, he added, calling the scenario deeply concerning for regional security.

The fate of the families remains one of the most complex aspects of the Islamic State detention file. Many children were born in the camps after the group’s territorial defeat, and some are now approaching fighting age, raising fears of future radicalisation and recruitment.

This is a rare story with good news out of Syria,” the official said.

For now, US intelligence agencies continue to monitor developments following what they describe as a rapid operation that prevented thousands of seasoned fighters from immediately returning to the battlefield and reconstituting the organisation.