Shafaq News- Damascus
US forces transferred a new group of ISIS detainees on Wednesday from detention facilities in Syria’s Hasakah province to Iraq, according to Shafaq News correspondent.
Buses carrying ISIS members, escorted by US armored vehicles and backed by helicopter flights, traveled along the international M4 highway south of Qamishli toward the Kharab al-Jir base, east of the city. The transfers are being carried out under tight security measures enforced by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led international coalition, with detainees moved on a near-daily basis.
A source within the SDF told Shafaq News that coalition forces transferred more than 100 ISIS detainees on Wednesday morning from Al-Sinaa prison in Hasakah to Iraq, adding that more than 1,000 detainees have been removed from Al-Sinaa and Al-Shaddadi prisons over the past week.
According to the source, detainees are first taken to the Kharab al-Jir base near the Iraqi border before being transferred in batches into Iraqi territory, in coordination with the Iraqi government.
On Friday, Reuters quoted an Iraqi official as saying that those transferred so far include about 130 Iraqi nationals and nearly 400 foreign detainees, adding that efforts are ongoing to persuade countries to repatriate their citizens.
Iraqi authorities expect more than 7,000 ISIS members to be transferred. The National Center for International Judicial Cooperation is set to document the cases and provide investigative bodies and courts with previously archived records and evidence.
Read more: ISIS detainee transfers test Iraq’s post-Coalition security