Shafaq News– Baghdad

The United States will provide air cover over Iraqi airspace to secure the transfer of ISIS detainees from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, an Iraqi security source said on Wednesday, as Washington confirmed the start of the operation.

The source told Shafaq News that US aircraft are expected to be active overnight, weather permitting, or in the coming days, to facilitate the transfer of the first batch of ISIS prisoners of multiple nationalities. The detainees will be moved by secured ground convoys under Iraqi security supervision, the source added.

Earlier today, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it has launched a new mission to relocate ISIS detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq to ensure they remain in secure detention facilities. CENTCOM said the operation began with the transfer of 150 ISIS fighters from a detention center in Hasakah to a secure site inside Iraq, noting that the total number to be transferred is expected to reach about 7,000.

Iraqi Prime Minister’s adviser Hussein Allawi said the detainees will be held at special facilities overseen by the Supreme Judicial Council and Iraqi intelligence and security agencies, explaining that most are Iraqi nationals, alongside several foreign detainees.

Allawi said Baghdad agreed to receive the prisoners to prevent a repeat of past security collapses, stressing that Iraq aims to prevent the resurgence of terrorism in the region and sees itself as a key international partner in counterterrorism and criminal justice against ISIS members.

ISIS lost territorial control in Iraq in 2017 but remains active as an insurgent group, with cells operating in desert and rural areas, as well as provinces including Diyala, Kirkuk, Saladin, and Al-Anbar. Iraq’s Joint Operations Command has estimated that security forces conducted dozens of operations and airstrikes in 2025, killing more than 90 ISIS militants and targeting senior leaders.

In Syria, thousands of ISIS fighters and suspected affiliates are held in detention centers and camps such as Al-Hol, facilities long flagged by the United Nations and rights groups, including Amnesty International, as security risks because of overcrowding, radicalization, and repeated escape attempts.