Iraqi forces arrest Islamic State (ISIS) women infiltrating from Syria

An area of the Syrian territories in the Syrian eastern province of Deir Ezzor near border with Iraq.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (North Press) – The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday, the arrest of several women affiliated to the Islamic State (ISIS) group while trying to infiltrate from Syria.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, ISIS women tried to infiltrate to the Iraqi territories through the villages of Rabia district in Mosul, but they were arrested with the assistance of intelligence forces.

The ministry said that these families tried to enter illegally in order to avoid prosecution.

“The men of those women are linked to ISIS terrorist gangs and fought against our security forces during the liberation battles and then fled to Syria,” the ministry statement reads.

Iraqi security forces said in an earlier statement that some desert areas near the Iraqi border with Syria are still used by ISIS sleeper cells.

About 25,000 women affiliated to ISIS, including 11,000 foreign women, are living in Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the key partner to the US-led global coalition against ISIS.

The Al Hol camp was built to house 40,000 individuals but currently holds around 65,000 people, mostly women and children. This includes nearly 11,000 foreign women with alleged ties to the Islamic State and their children.

(Editing by Hisham Arafat)