Syrian Democratic Forces Hand Over More Than 150 ISIS Fighters to Iraq

An Iraqi security official said on Thursday, February 21, that the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States in their fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS), have handed over more than 150 Iraqi fighters of this group to Iraq, with plans to transfer more Iraqi ISIS prisoners in the near future. According to the Iraqi official, the fighters were handed over on Wednesday evening and are currently being interrogated at a 'secure location.' This is the largest number of ISIS fighters being repatriated to their home country. The handling of foreign fighters from this group has recently become a challenge for European countries and other nations of origin. Currently, over a thousand foreign fighters of ISIS, most of whom are European and Iraqi, are imprisoned by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The Syrian Kurds have long requested, and U.S. President Donald Trump recently urged, all countries to take back their citizens from Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces claim they lack the necessary facilities to detain captured fighters, but it seems that fewer countries are willing to accept their citizens who fought in the ranks of ISIS. Recently, the Iraqi Prime Minister announced that the country would accept all Iraqi fighters and thousands of their family members. The unnamed Iraqi security official stated that the Syrian Democratic Forces are holding over 20,000 Iraqis suspected of being members of ISIS and their families in special prisons and camps in northern Syria. According to him, more than 500 Iraqi fighters are among these individuals, and the first group of about 150 was handed over to Iraq on Wednesday night and subsequently transferred to Baghdad for interrogation. Meanwhile, the Syrian Democratic Forces, with U.S. support, are engaged in reclaiming the last area under ISIS control in southeastern Syria near the Iraqi border. The Associated Press adds that on Wednesday, several hundred people, most of whom were women and children, were evacuated from a camp of this group near the Euphrates River. This could be a sign of the reclamation of the last area under ISIS control, which at its peak held about one-third of the territory of Syria and Iraq. It is reported that about 300 fighters from this group, along with hundreds of civilians who are likely their families, have been besieged in this camp near the village of Baghouz in eastern Syria for over a week. The exact number of civilians in this camp is still unclear. It is uncertain whether the 150 Iraqi fighters handed over on Wednesday night were among those recently evacuated from Baghouz or had been captured earlier. The capture of the Baghouz camp by the Syrian Kurdish forces will mark the end of the reclamation of ISIS territory in Syria and will allow the U.S. President to withdraw American troops from Syria. This will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the eight-year Syrian civil war. Nevertheless, many believe that the capture of all this group's territory will not mean the end of the threats posed by ISIS, as the group still maintains an active and clandestine organization in Iraq and Syria.