The US army stated as much as 7,000 folks can be moved from a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria.
Printed On 21 Jan 2026
The USA has begun transferring detainees linked to ISIL (ISIS) from northeastern Syria to Iraq, as Syria’s military continues to take control of extra territory beforehand held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The US army stated in an announcement on Wednesday that it transferred 150 detainees who had been being held in a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a safe location in Iraq.
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The switch comes as Syria’s authorities extends its management into beforehand Kurdish-held areas of northeastern Syria, the place a number of camps and prisons holding ISIL fighters and their households are positioned.
Till just lately, these services had been guarded and administered by the SDF.
As authorities forces superior, the SDF withdrew from a number of places, together with al-Hol camp, Syria’s largest camp for members of the family of ISIL fighters. The federal government introduced a brand new ceasefire with the SDF late on Tuesday.
Based on the US army, as much as 7,000 folks with alleged ISIL hyperlinks could possibly be transferred to Iraqi-controlled services.
“We’re carefully coordinating with regional companions, together with the Iraqi authorities, and we sincerely admire their function in making certain the enduring defeat of ISIS,” stated US Admiral Brad Cooper, the pinnacle of US forces within the Center East.
He added that facilitating the safe switch of detainees is essential to stopping mass breakouts that would pose a direct menace to the US and regional safety.
The announcement comes a day after the US special envoy to Syria stated that its most important companion in opposition to ISIL could be the Syrian authorities, moderately than the SDF, which had held that place for years.
Iraq later acknowledged it had permitted the step after monitoring the safety developments going down in Syria and the repercussions of adjustments within the safety state of affairs on the bottom, “significantly with regard to regulate over detained terrorists”.
The Nationwide Safety Council “permitted Iraq’s reception of terrorists of Iraqi nationality in addition to different nationalities who had been detained in prisons beforehand below the management of the Syrian Democratic Forces,” stated Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the chief commander of the armed forces.
“These detainees can be transferred to government-run correctional establishments. The primary batch has already been obtained and contains 150 terrorist components, Iraqis and foreigners, who had been concerned in shedding the blood of harmless Iraqis.”
Whereas ISIL was largely defeated in 2017 in Iraq and in Syria two years later, sleeper cells nonetheless perform assaults in each international locations. The SDF had a significant function in defeating the group.
