US begins transferring ISIL-linked detainees from Syria to Iraq

As Syria’s army continues to occupy more of the territory held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the US has begun moving detainees linked to ISIL (ISIS) from northeastern Syria to Iraq.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the US military announced the transfer of 150 detainees to a secure location in Iraq from a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria.

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The transfer comes as the government of Syria expands its purview over previously held Kurdish regions of northeastern Syria, including several camps and prisons where ISIL fighters and their families are housed.

These facilities were previously controlled and managed by the SDF.

The SDF withdrew from several locations, including al-Hol camp, Syria’s largest camp for relatives of ISIL fighters, as government forces advanced. Late on Tuesday, the government made a new ceasefire with the SDF.

Up to 7, 000 people with alleged ISIL connections could be transferred to Iraqi-controlled facilities, according to the US military.

The Iraqi government and other regional partners are working closely together, and we sincerely appreciate their efforts to end ISIS, according to US Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US forces in the Middle East.

He added that facilitating the detainee’s safe transfer is essential to preventing large-scale breakouts that could threaten US and regional security directly.

The US special envoy to Syria announced the announcement a day after the SDF, which had been in that position for years, declared that the Syrian government would be its main partner in the fight against ISIL.

After monitoring the security developments taking place in Syria and the effects of changes in the security situation there, “especially with regard to control over detained terrorists,” Iraq later stated it had approved the move.

According to Sabah al-Numan, the chief commander of the armed forces, the National Security Council “approved of Iraq’s reception of terrorists of Iraqi nationality as well as other nationalities who were detained in prisons previously under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

These detainees will be moved to government-run correctional facilities, according to the statement. 150 terrorist elements, both domestics and foreigners who participated in the bloodletting of innocent Iraqis have already been received.