Iraq receives about 6K ISIS members from Syria

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq took custody of 5,704 ISIS suspects representing 61 nationalities from prisons in Syria, the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation said on Friday.

The center, affiliated with Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, noted in a statement that 467 of the detainees are Iraqi nationals, while 4,253 are Arab nationals and 983 are non-Arab foreign nationals. The largest group is Syrian, totaling 3,543 suspects. Prominent foreign nationalities include Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, as well as Australia, Canada, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Earlier today, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the United States concluded moving more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in northeastern Syria to Iraqi custody.

The transfer follows recent security tensions in northeastern Syria between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus authorities, which threatened the security of ISIS detention facilities. CENTCOM has begun relocating detainees to Iraqi custody as part of a broader initiative involving nearly 7,000 inmates.

Meanwhile, a security source told Shafaq News that authorities transferred 1,200 inmates, most of them from Al-Karkh prison in Baghdad, to Nasiriyah Central Prison in Dhi Qar province, locally known as Al-Hoot Prison. The move represents the largest inmate transfer in the facility’s history, while the prison population has risen to more than 14,000, despite a total capacity of approximately 6,000 inmates.

“None of the ISIS suspects transferred from Syria have been moved to Al-Hoot Prison so far, and they are expected to remain in facilities near Baghdad pending the completion of their trials under Iraqi law,” the source added.

Read more: ISIS detainee transfers test Iraq’s post-Coalition security