Iraqi forces transferring IS family members to ‘safe place’ north of Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi authorities on Monday announced they had transferred hundreds of Islamic State (IS) family members from the town of Ayadiyah, west of Mosul, to a “safe place.”

Following the liberation of Tal Afar from the militant group, Iraqi forces said they received several families of IS fighters who had turned themselves in to Peshmerga forces.

“Iraqi troops received a number of women and children of Iraqi and foreign nationalities from a front line under the control of Peshmerga forces located east of Ayadiyah,” an official statement from the Iraqi military informed.

The families, consisting of women and children, surrendered to the Kurdish forces at the end of August following the offensive against the extremist group in Tal Afar, west of Mosul.

The Iraqi army and intelligence officers said most of the foreigners were from Turkey, Central Asia, and former Soviet states such as Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

The women and children were previously being held in a displaced person camp in the Nineveh Province, south of Mosul.

According to a press release by the Iraqi army, the families were being taken to “a safe place where better services are available in the town of Talkif [north of Mosul] under the management of the Iraqi forces and relevant committees.”

Some of the women at the camp said the fate of their husbands who surrendered to Peshmerga forces separately is unknown.

Last week, Brigadier General Kamel Harki, a Kurdish commander, said some of the captured militants were handed over to Iraqi authorities while others were killed for trying to attack Peshmerga during their surrender.

Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities said they were eager to negotiate with the embassies of foreign nations on the return of the women and children.

It is unclear what the status of foreign-born fighters and their families would be under Iraqi law and whether they would be extradited back to their home countries for prosecution.

Editing by Ava Homa