EXPLAINER: Who are the kids trapped in Syria prison attack?

A distressing series of voice notes sent by an Australian teenager from a prison in northeast Syria underscores the plight of thousands of forgotten children who remain trapped in detention facilities in Syria and Iraq

BEIRUT -- A distressing series of voice notes sent by an Australian teenager from a prison in northeast Syria underscores the plight of thousands of forgotten children who remain trapped in detention facilities in Syria and Iraq.

Hundreds of minors are believed to be holed up in Gweiran Prison, which has been at the center of a violent standoff between Islamic State group militants and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters that began a week ago.

The Kurdish-led forces said Wednesday they took control of the last section of the prison controlled by Islamic State militants and freed a number of child detainees used as human shields. It ended a weeklong assault by the extremists on one of the largest detention facilities in Syria.

IS fighters stormed the prison on Thursday, aiming to break out thousands of comrades who simultaneously rioted inside. The attack is the biggest by IS militants since the fall of the group’s “caliphate” in 2019.