More than 5,000 ISIL-linked detainees have been moved from jails in northeastern Syria to a prison in Iraq, the Iraqi Ministry of Justice has said.
Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi told the Iraqi News Agency on Friday that the transfers and continued detention of the prisoners were carried out at the request of the U.S.-led international coalition combating ISIL, of which Iraq is a key member.
Laibi said that of the 5,064 detainees transferred so far, more than 3,000 are Syrian nationals and at least 270 are Iraqi citizens. He added that all of the detainees are being held in a single prison facility in Iraq, in a section separate from other inmates.
In comments made on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein gave a lower figure, saying roughly 3,000 ISIL prisoners had been transferred, but that the process was ongoing. Baghdad, he said, was in talks with other countries about repatriating their nationals among those transferred.
The U.S. military has been transporting the detainees from prisons and detention centres formerly run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria. The transfers come as control of many detention facilities has shifted to the Syrian government, amid efforts to stabilise territory after years of conflict.
Iraq has said it will investigate and prosecute the detainees under Iraqi law, and has sought financial assistance to manage the increased detainee population. Officials have also voiced concern about a recent rise in ISIL activity in Syria and the ongoing challenge posed by the militant group’s remnants.
The large-scale relocation effort, which began late last month, is part of a broader campaign involving U.S. and coalition forces aimed at consolidating control of detained ISIL fighters and preventing potential escapes or resurgence as Syria’s internal dynamics continue to shift.
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