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A suspected IS fighter in a prison in Hasakah, northern Syria (January 2020)
Photo: GORAN TOMASEVIC / REUTERS
The terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) is largely considered to have been broken. Thousands of its fighters are in prisons in Syria and Iraq.
Many of them had traveled to IS from Europe, North Africa and Asia - but only a few countries want to take the jihadists back.
In view of the overcrowded prison camps in northern Syria, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now calling for the IS extremists held there to be returned to their countries of origin.
The reminder is also aimed at European countries such as Germany.
10,000 fighters from the Islamist militia are still imprisoned in the camps, Blinken said on Monday.
“The situation is simply untenable.
It simply cannot last forever. «The prisoners' countries of origin would have to bring their citizens back and, if necessary, prosecute them.
The American chief diplomat spoke at a conference in Rome, in which the aim was to strengthen international efforts in the fight against the IS militia.
The group was officially declared militarily defeated in 2017.
However, it is still particularly active in northern Iraq and the Syrian border area.
In the past few months alone, ISIS has been blamed for more than 25 fatal attacks, including an attack on a market in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in January that killed more than 30 people.
Islamists gain strength in the Sahel
In addition, militant groups with links to IS and to the equally radical Islamic Al-Qaeda in the West African Sahel region have gained strength in recent years - despite the dispatch of thousands of soldiers, including in the context of international missions.
A crucial point is therefore also to address the threat posed by IS outside Iraq and Syria, said Blinken.
On Friday, several German blue helmet soldiers were injured in an attack in Mali, West Africa.
It is not yet clear who was responsible for the attack.
However, Islamist insurgents with IS and Al-Qaeda connections are active in the area.
mrc / Reuters