Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq has received 47 French nationals from detention camps in northeast Syria on charges of suspected ISIS affiliation, the Associated Press reported on Thursday. Iraqi officials said the group will face trial in Baghdad on terrorism charges.

According to three Iraqi security officials cited by AP, the transfer took place about six weeks ago but was not previously announced. The French citizens had been held in facilities overseen by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which guard some 9,000 suspected ISIS members with US support.

The French government has not yet commented on the reported transfer.

In 2019, Iraq received 13 French citizens accused of ISIS ties for prosecution. Thousands of Iraqi nationals detained in Syria have also been transferred over the years.

Iraqi officials said the SDF has handed over a total of 3,192 detainees to Iraq. Courts have sentenced 724 of them to death and 1,381 to life in prison.