The United States wants to lead by example and repatriate American jihadists

The United States announced Thursday, October 1, the repatriation of Americans detained in Syria and Iraq and prosecuted for their support for the Islamic State group, calling on other countries to

and to try their jihadists.

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A total of 27 American nationals were transferred from places of detention controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters backed by Washington which led the fight against ISIS, the ministry said. Justice in a press release.

These are jihadists targeted by prosecution, Deputy Minister for National Security John Demers said in a statement, suggesting that other repatriations could follow.

Seamus Hugues, an expert in a research program specializing in extremism at George Washington University, told AFP that the Americans represented only a small portion of the fighters who joined jihadist groups in the Levant.

The fate of the thousands of foreign fighters detained in Syria and Iraq, sometimes with their wives and children, divides the United States and its allies.

As a sign of the gulf between the two camps, the United States vetoed a UN resolution on the fate of foreign fighters at the end of August because the text did not call for their repatriation.

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Nathan Sales, coordinator for the fight against terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called on

.

, for his part affirmed the head of American diplomacy Mike Pompeo.

Visiting Rome, he welcomed Italy's decision to try one of its nationals for belonging to ISIS.

Washington has long defended the need to return jihadists detained in Kurdish camps or prisons to their country of origin.