The Iraqi authorities repatriated Wednesday (December 8th) 100 Iraqi fighters from the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) who were held by Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria, announced a senior Iraqi security official.
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"
We have recovered this morning 100 terrorists
" held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters in Syria, told AFP General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, deputy commander of Joint Operations, coordinating body the action of the various security forces and collaborating with the international anti-jihadist coalition.
The 100 jihadists "
were handed over to the intelligence services for questioning,
" the senior official said.
In February and then in September, the SDF alliance which led the fight against ISIS with the support of an international coalition led by Washington handed over to Baghdad around 100 Iraqi IS fighters, according to Iraqi security sources. .
Terrorism punishable by death in Iraq
The Syrian Kurdish administration, which controls large swathes of northeastern Syria, is sometimes reluctant to communicate on certain issues related to IS fighters or their families held by Kurdish forces in prisons or camps in Syria. Syria.
In 2019, the SDF had handed over to Baghdad around 900 Iraqis, most of them captured trying to flee the last ISIS strongholds in Syria, according to Iraqi judicial sources.
After having occupied from 2014 to 2017 vast territories in Syria and Iraq, the IS has chained the setbacks. At the end of 2017, Iraq announced "
victory
" after having driven ISIS from all urban strongholds. In March 2019, ISIS lost all of its strongholds in Syria. Some 1,600 Iraqis suspected of having fought for IS are still held by the SDF, according to a UN report. Thousands of civilians are also being held in IDP camps like Al-Hol, which is home to more than 60,000 people, half of whom are Iraqis.
Iraq has already sued thousands of its nationals for belonging to ISIS, a crime punishable by death under an anti-terrorism law.
Hundreds have been sentenced to death, but few have been enforced, with the prison administration having to obtain an order ratified by the presidency to carry them out.