ZCZC
BFF-17
SYRIA-CONFLICT-IS-IRAQ
Iraq receives 280 IS jihadists from US-backed Syria force
BAGHDAD, Feb 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A US-backed force pushing to take the
Islamic State group’s last speck of territory in eastern Syria on Sunday
extradited 280 Iraqi jihadists, Iraq authorities said.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have detained “a large number” of IS
fighters “of multiple nationalities, including more than 500 Iraqis”, the
security media office said in a statement.
“So far 280 (Iraqis) have been delivered,” it added.
Iraqi security forces on Thursday received a first batch of 130 Iraqi IS
members, a military spokesman said, although a spokesman for the US-backed
force denied the claims.
The transfers were set to “continue until they are completed”, the
statement added.
Iraqi security forces had received a list of names to be checked against a
database in coordination with the judiciary, which has issued warrants
against jihadists.
Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi said at his weekly press conference
Tuesday that the country was monitoring the situation in eastern Syria with
caution, as security forces fear IS remnants could sneak across the nearby
Iraqi border.
Iraq declared victory against IS in December 2017 after ousting the
jihadists from the swathes of Iraq they took in 2014.
Backed by air strikes from a US-led coalition, the SDF have trapped the
jihadists in less than half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile) in
a hamlet in the Syrian desert.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0951 hrs