More than 2,200 ISIS prisoners have been transferred to Iraq from Syria, a security official said on Saturday, as part of a continuing US operation to relocate them.
Iraq is expected to receive up to 7,000 ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq in the coming months in a move it said was aimed at “ensuring that the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities”, according to the US Central Command.
For years they have been held in prisons and camps administered by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in north-east Syria. Syria’s government is extending its control into previously Kurdish-held areas of north-eastern Syria, where several camps and prisons holding ISIS fighters and their families are located.
It has resulted in fierce fighting between the Syrian army and SDF fighters, raising concerns about security following a mass escape from at least one prison in Syria.
Saad Maan, head of the security information cell attached to the Iraqi prime minister’s office, said “Iraq has received 2,225 terrorists from the Syrian side by land and air, in co-ordination with the international coalition,” which Washington has led since 2014 to fight ISIS.
The men are held in “strict, secure and organised detention centres” he said, adding that “specialised teams have begun initial investigations and are classifying these individuals according to their level of danger”.
Mr Maan said Iraq aims to put “those involved in committing crimes against Iraqis and with links to ISIS before Iraqi courts”.
Iraq's Foreign Ministry is in contact with several countries, including EU states, to begin the process of repatriating their citizens once the legal operations are complete, he said.
It is believed that thousands of European citizens travelled to join ISIS when the group erupted in 2014 but those remaining have been living in limbo while detained by the SDF.
Footage circulating on social media showed dozens of US military convoy and buses with tinted windows heading from Syria towards the Iraqi border.
The Iraqi judiciary said on Monday it had begun investigative procedures involving 1,387 detainees it received as part of the US military’s operation.
There are thousands of Iraqis and foreign nationals convicted of links to ISIS who are held in Iraqi prisons.
Iraqi officials are concerned about a renewed ISIS activity in the country and that the group will exploit the security gaps in Syria following the escape of ISIS detainees from prisons.
