Shafaq News– Baghdad
The United States bringing ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq threatens border security and could fuel instability, an Iraqi lawmaker said on Wednesday.
Muqdad Al-Khafaji, a member of parliament from the Shiite Huqooq (Rights) bloc within the Iran-aligned Coordination Framework, told Shafaq News that the move risks facilitating weapons trafficking and militant infiltration across the Iraq–Syria border, urging the government to halt the operation.
Earlier today, US Central Command (CENTCOM) revealed that it had begun transferring ISIS prisoners, starting with 150 detainees moved from a facility in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, to “secure” locations inside Iraq, as part of a broader plan that could involve up to 7,000 detainees.
Although an Iraqi government source told Al-Jazeera that the transfers were carried out at Baghdad’s request, Al-Khafaji said parliament had formed a committee to visit border areas with Syria and meet security commanders to assess defenses. He called on Iraqi security forces, the Popular Mobilization Forces, resistance factions, and Kurdish Peshmerga units to “prepare” for the coming days.
Control over ISIS prisons and camps in northeastern Syria has shifted following clashes between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Thousands of ISIS fighters and suspected affiliates are held in detention facilities and camps such as Al-Hol, which the United Nations and rights groups, including Amnesty International, have long warned pose security risks due to overcrowding, radicalization, and repeated escape attempts.