DAMASCUS - Kurdish-led forces in Syria put down a riot by Islamic State militants in a prison in the country's northeast on Monday, a Syrian Kurdish spokesman said.

Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said the situation in the prison in the northeastern town of Hassakeh was "fully under control." He said their anti-terrorism force "ended the riots and secured the facility and all prisoners inside".

IS prisoners on Sunday seized control of the ground floor of the Ghweiran prison, with some of them trying to escape, Syria State TV reported.

Gabriel did not say whether there were casualties in the operation to secure the prison adding that none of the prisoners escaped.

It was not immediately clear if the riots were triggered by concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Mustafa Bali, another spokesman for the forces, said late on Sunday that so far there is no connection between the riot and fears of the fast-spreading virus.

There are concerns over an outbreak of the virus inside overcrowded prison facilities in Syria and elsewhere in the region. But so far there are no reports of infection in Kurdish-administered northeastern Syria or in any detention facilities, Bali said.

Kurdish authorities run more than two dozen detention facilities, scattered around northeastern Syria, holding about 10,000 IS fighters.

Among the detainees are some 2,000 foreigners, including about 800 Europeans.

The Kurdish-led forces, backed by the US-led coalition, declared a military victory against IS last year after seizing control of the last sliver of land the militants controlled in southeast Syria.

Some Arabs, who form a majority of the inhabitants of the areas under the control of Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, accuse the Kurds of discrimination, an allegation rejected by Kurdish officials.

XINHUA - AGENCIES