ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Syrian Kurds have some 2,300 foreign ISIS fighters, women, and children in their custody, a member of the regional administration said on Saturday. The numbers in their custody are “big,” tweeted Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign affairs for Rojava’s al-Jazeera canton, and pose a global security risk. Breaking down the numbers, he said they have nearly 900 ISIS fighters, 400-500 women, and more than 1,000 children in their custody. They come from 44 different countries. There are known European, central Asian, and Arab nationals among those detained. Rudaw recently interviewed two women from Belgium and Dagestan who surrendered to Kurdish forces. “Our region is unstable, any chaos may enable [ISIS] fighters to flee,” Omar warned. “Some of those fighters are dangerous and may pose serious threats on Europe and the international community.” The self-administration in Rojava has repeatedly appealed to the international community to take back their citizens, saying they cannot handle the problem. Most countries, however, do not want to repatriate their nationals who joined ISIS. The Kurdish YPG forces are at the forefront of the SDF, fighting ISIS in northern Syria. They have defeated the militants in key sites like Kobane, Tabqa dam, and Raqqa and are now in control of more than a quarter of the country. The SDF are currently battling ISIS in their last stronghold in the Euphrates River valley, the Hajin pocket in Deir ez-Zor province. The Kurds are also prosecuting Syrian ISIS members and run a rehabilitation centre for minors.
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