SDF hands over Iraqi ISIS detainees to their government

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, Media Center of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced the handing over of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) detainees, who were detained in prisons in Syria’s northeast, to Iraqi government.

“Specialized security unites of our forces handed over more than 100 ISIS detainees who hold the Iraqi citizenship and were held in prisons of northeast Syria to the Iraqi federal government,” the Media Center said in a statement.

The operation of handing over the wanted ISIS detainees to Iraqi judiciary was carried out in cooperation with Iraqi side, according to the statement.

Over the past years, SDF has handed over several batches of ISIS detainees who bear the Iraqi citizenship to the Iraqi government, while hundreds of ISIS militants are still kept in prisons of northeast Syria under SDF supervision.

Prisons holding ISIS members in northeastern Syria, especially the al-Sina’a prison in the city of Hasakah, witness riots from time to time.

On September 9, 2020, detainees belonging to ISIS staged an uprising in Sina’a prison in Hasakah’s Ghweiran neighborhood, marking the third such uprising this year. The Rapid Intervention Forces team under the command of the Syrian Democratic Forces quickly formed a security cordon around the perimeter of the prison.

The SDF demands the “international community” bear the responsibility to find a solution to the issue of ISIS detainees and provide more support.