Mike Baker

During a shaky security transition, Islamic State militants escaped from a prison in eastern Syria as control was changing hands between Kurdish-led forces and the new Syrian government.

Now, let me walk you through how this unraveled, because the breakdown didn't happen all at once.

According to U.S.

officials and regional sources, the incident unfolded at al-Shadadi prison in Syria's Hasakah province.

It came just as an established ceasefire on Sunday was meant to smooth the transfer of territory and security responsibilities from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces over to Damascus and the new government.

As SDF guards withdrew and Syrian government forces moved in to assume control,

Responsibility for the prison shifted faster than security arrangements could keep up.

There was a narrow window where authority was in motion but not fully established, and that gap proved costly.

During that moment, residents breached the prison and freed roughly 200 Islamic State detainees, according to sources familiar with the incident.

Now, I want to point out that the breach by the residents was not a coordinated scheme by ISIS.

A source told Fox News that most of those who escaped via the locals were low-level regional fighters who once pledged allegiance to the terror group but were not hardened terrorists with leadership roles.

That distinction helps explain what US forces had already done ahead of the breakout.

American officials confirmed that US forces worked with the SDF in advance of the ceasefire to relocate the most dangerous foreign Islamic State fighters to other, more secure facilities.

Fewer than 1,000 detainees had previously been held at al-Shaddadi, and only a few hundred remained when the handover began.

From there, the response moved quickly.

A senior U.S.

official told Fox News that most of the escaped detainees were recaptured and returned to custody.

In the immediate aftermath of the prison break, Syrian authorities imposed a total curfew in the city of Shaddadi.

As of now, the prison is fully under the Syrian government's control.

And under that integration agreement reached over the weekend, the SDF also agreed to withdraw from two Arab-majority provinces that it has controlled for years.