Three children of Russian ISIS members returned to Russia from northeast Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The local Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria on Monday handed over three children of women suspected of membership in the so-called Islamic State to a Russian Parliament committee on request from the Russian government.

The press conference was held in the presence of the co-chair of the Office of Foreign Relations in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Abdul Karim Omar, and dozens of local and regional media, the local Hawar News Agency reported.

The Russian delegation consisted of two Russian parliamentarians who represented the Russian Duma Committee on International Cooperation.

According to Hawar News Agency, the Russian delegation thanked the local administration for accepting the request to return the three children. At the end of the conference, the two sides signed a document of receipt and delivery of the children.

It is not the first time that women with alleged Islamic State links and their children have returned to Russia.

Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would continue to bring home children of Russian citizens who joined the extremist group in Iraq and Syria, noting that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov would take the lead role on that matter.

In December 2018, 30 children of Islamic State members returned to Russia from Iraq.

In November 2017, 13 women and 29 children were handed over to Russian officials after a press conference was held in the Kurdish city of Qamishli.

Following the emergence of the extremist group in Iraq and Syria in 2014, thousands of foreign nationals joined the Islamic State. Accompanying them were women who came from different parts of the world.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany