3,000 families flee homes in Syria's Hasakah amid U.S. airstrikes

As many as 3,500 families have so far fled their homes in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah amid the U.S. airstrikes and clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Islamic State (IS) militants, reported Xinhua, quoting the state news agency SANA on Monday.

The U.S. airstrikes and the clashes between the SDF and IS have been escalating following the jailbreak of IS inmates from a Kurdish-controlled prison in the Gweiran neighborhood in Hasakah on Thursday evening.

Following the prison escape, the SDF engaged in fierce battles with IS militants inside and outside the prison while the U.S.-led warplanes kept on targeting residential areas where the IS fugitives could have reached.

Earlier on Monday, the U.S.-led warplanes struck a university campus in Hasakah and destroyed the university's parking lot, as part of their manhunt for IS, according to SANA.

Such a situation has pushed thousands of families to flee their homes close to the clashes sites in Kurdish-controlled areas.

SANA said the displaced families reached the government-controlled areas in Hasakah and settled in temporary displacement shelters, as the Syrian army opened safe corridors to secure the fleeing families.

Director of Social Affairs Ibrahim Khalaf said in a statement that due to the increase in the number of displaced families, two new temporary shelters were opened, bringing the number of centers to five in the city.

Khalaf pointed out that the work is underway to equip the sixth center in light of the continued influx of people from the southern neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, Syria's Foreign Ministry on Monday held an urgent meeting of representatives from the international organizations operating in Syria to address the crisis in Hasakah.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry repeated its demand for the withdrawal of the U.S. forces from Syria.

Hasakah province is largely controlled by the U.S.-backed SDF, while some certain areas, particularly in the city of Qamishli, are still under the control of the Syrian government.