About 200 Islamic State (IS) detainees escaped from a prison in Syria’s eastern Hasakah province on Monday amid confusion during a control handover between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government. The incident occurred at the Al-Shaddadi prison, and both U.S. officials and regional sources confirmed the escape.

The escape followed a unification agreement signed on Sunday under which the SDF agreed to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces it had long controlled. As part of the deal, responsibility for prisons holding IS detainees was to be transferred from the SDF to the Syrian government. Damascus accused the SDF of deliberately delaying the handover, while Syrian leader Ahmed al-Shara voiced dissatisfaction with Kurdish autonomy and hinted at dissolving the SDF leadership.

According to U.S. officials, Washington had been working with the SDF to relocate the most dangerous foreign IS prisoners to more secure facilities before the ceasefire. Following the escape, Syrian forces imposed a curfew in Al-Shaddadi and launched a large-scale operation to capture the fugitives.