Iraq’s Justice Minister: ISIS Prisoners Moved from Syria Will Not Be Held in Kurdistan Region Prisons
Iraq’s justice minister says no ISIS detainees transferred from Syria will be held in Kurdistan Region prisons. More than 5,046 have been moved, with trials to be handled by a special judicial body in federal facilities.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - As heavily guarded convoys move across the border from Syria, Iraq’s justice minister has drawn a firm legal line: none of the transferred ISIS detainees will be sent to prisons in the Kurdistan Region. With the number now exceeding five thousand, Baghdad says the operation is continuing under strict judicial oversight.
On Wednesday, , Iraqi Minister of Justice Khalid Shawani told journalists that ISIS militants transferred from Syria to Iraq “will under no circumstances be sent to prisons in the Kurdistan Region.”
He clarified that both Chamchamal and Suse prisons are designated for general crimes, not terrorism cases. For that reason, he said, ISIS militants will be held in specialized terrorism prisons in central and southern Iraq.
Providing updated figures, Shawani disclosed that 5,046 ISIS prisoners have so far been transferred from Syria into Iraq. He added that the total is expected to reach six thousand.
Shawani emphasized that all detainees are under the supervision of the Supreme Judicial Council and will be tried in Iraq by a specialized judicial body.
In another part of his remarks, the justice minister said the majority of the prisoners hold foreign nationalities from nearly 60 different countries. He added that coordination is ongoing with the international coalition and the relevant states so that, after the completion of legal proceedings, the detainees can be returned to their countries.
Earlier, Jan. 21, 2026, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the launch of a new process to transfer ISIS detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq to ensure they are held in a secure location.
According to the statement, the process has already begun, and US forces have successfully transferred 150 ISIS prisoners from a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure site inside Iraq. The stated goal is to relocate nearly 7,000 detained ISIS militants from Syria to facilities under Iraqi authority.
As the cross-border transfers expand and court proceedings loom, Iraqi authorities say the fate of thousands of ISIS detainees will be decided within the country’s federal legal system, far from Kurdistan Region prisons.