Iraq Says 5,640 ISIS Detainees Transferred from Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Ahmed Laibi, spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, announced Friday that a total of 5,064 detainees affiliated with Islamic State (ISIS) have been transferred from Syria to Iraq following the completion of government procedures, according to statements carried by the Iraqi News Agency.

Laibi said the transferred group includes more than 270 Iraqis, over 3,000 Syrians, and detainees of other nationalities. All are being held in a single prison facility where they are undergoing investigation and trial under Iraqi law, he added.

He noted that Iraq’s role in holding the detainees comes at the request of the Global Coalition Against Daesh, of which Iraq is a key member.

Separately, Al-Monitor reported that 66 ISIS fighters of Turkish origin were recently handed over from prisons in Hasakah to coalition forces for transfer to Iraqi territory. A senior Syrian Kurdish official told the outlet that claims of 2,000 Turkish ISIS fighters were inaccurate and that detainee identities are known to the United States-led coalition but cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

Most foreign families have left the foreigners’ section of Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria after Syrian government forces took control of the facility from Kurdish authorities. Aid workers say fewer than 20 families remain, with some relocating from the camp and others possibly fleeing. Witnesses reported armed men transporting veiled women away after the takeover, while officials are conducting a census but have not confirmed departures.

Previously home to about 24,000 people—mostly women and children, including over 6,000 foreigners—the camp has seen significant movement since Kurdish forces withdrew in January and Syrian troops entered. Some foreigners may have been smuggled to other Syrian provinces, while Iraq is coordinating with the US-led coalition to repatriate Iraqi families from the camp.