BAGHDAD,— Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they have already received more than two thousand Islamic State prisoners from Syria, as part of a large-scale transfer organized by the U.S. military.
The move follows an announcement last month by U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, that up to 7,000 suspected Islamic State members would be relocated from detention facilities in Syria to Iraq. American officials said the goal was to keep the prisoners in secure custody.
Until now, most of the detainees had been held in jails and camps managed by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish forces controlling much of northeastern Syrian Kurdistan.
The transfers began after U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said that the SDF’s mission against the Islamic State had effectively concluded, raising concerns about the future of detainee management in Syria.
Saad Maan, a senior Iraqi security official working with the prime minister’s office, told state-run Iraqi News Agency that Iraq had so far taken in 2,250 suspected “terrorists” from Syria by land and air with the international coalition led by Washington.
Maan said the detainees were being kept in tightly controlled detention centers and that Iraqi security forces were monitoring them closely.
A Kurdish military official separately told AFP that the transfers were continuing under the protection of coalition troops, confirming that the operation was still underway.
An AFP photographer in the area near Qamishlo, a mainly Kurdish city in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), reported seeing a U.S. military convoy accompanied by 11 buses with dark windows on Saturday, indicating ongoing movement of detainees.
The Islamic State overran large areas of northern and western Iraq in 2014, taking control of cities and towns before being defeated by Iraqi forces with coalition support in 2017.
The group left behind widespread destruction, mass graves, and deep social trauma. Iraq continues to prosecute those linked to the organization.
In recent years, Iraqi courts have sentenced numerous convicted militants to death or life in prison for terrorism-related crimes.
Thousands of Iraqis and foreigners found guilty of belonging to the Islamic State remain behind bars in Iraqi prisons.
Earlier this week, Iraq’s judiciary said it had begun investigations into 1,387 detainees received as part of the U.S. transfer operation.
Maan said the official policy of Iraq is that anyone involved in crimes against Iraqi citizens or tied to the Islamic State must stand trial in Iraqi courts.
Iraqi security officials said the transferred prisoners include people from Syria, Iraq, Europe, and other countries.
Baghdad has urged foreign governments to repatriate their citizens and prosecute them under their own legal systems.
Maan said that the handover of detainees to their home countries would start only after all legal procedures inside Iraq are completed.
(With files from AFP)
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