Damascus, March 30 (IANS) A total of 12 inmates of the Islamic State (IS) militant group escaped a prison run by Kurdish militia in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah on Sunday, state TV reported.

The inmates escaped the Ghweiran prison that is run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and houses 3,000 IS militants, said the TV.

Following the prisoners' escape, warplanes of the US-led anti-terror coalition flew over the prison and dropped flare bombs, Xinhua news agency reported.

The SDF controls large swathes of Hasakah Province and the areas in the eastern Euphrates River region in eastern Syria.

The SDF also captured hundreds of IS militants during battles in northern Syria.

--IANS rt/