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

By ZEINA KARAM
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — 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 an ongoing violent standoff between Islamic State group militants and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters that began a week ago. 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.