Turkey to repatriate its ISIS fighters from Iraq as jihadis escalate Syria attacks
Ankara will repatriate its nationals from among thousands of fighters transferred from Syria, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.
Turkey has agreed to take back its citizens from among thousands of alleged Islamic State (ISIS) fighters transferred from Syria to Iraq by the US-led coalition last month amid fierce clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian military, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein announced Monday.
Hussein made the announcement after meeting US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack in Baghdad.
According to recent figures attributed to Iraqi officials, around 180 suspected Turkish ISIS fighters who were held in detention by the SDF in Syria are currently in Iraqi custody. Turkey has not yet formally commented on the planned repatriation of its citizens.
US Central Command is believed to have transferred 5,700 suspected ISIS prisoners from prisons in northeast Syria between Jan. 21 and Feb. 12. The decision to move the fighters was prompted by the security vacuum created by the fighting near the prisons that allowed more than 100 ISIS detainees to flee one particular facility in Shadaddi in a single day.
