Middle East
A bus in a US military convoy transporting ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq travels through Syria's northeastern Hasaka province on February 7, 2026. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 20 of the thousands of Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners recently transferred from Syria to Iraq are Iranian nationals, including Kurds, three senior Iraqi security and intelligence sources told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Iraq transferred 5,700 ISIS prisoners from Kurdish-held jails in northeast Syria (Rojava) in a 23-day process coordinated with the United States earlier this year. The number includes at least 23 individuals from Iran and the Kurdish region in western Iran (Rojhelat), the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The transfer followed the rapid advance of the Syrian army and affiliated armed forces toward areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Of the total number, 460 are Iraqis, but the figure does not include anyone from the Kurdistan Region, the sources added.
An official from the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, which is affiliated with Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council, told Rudaw that statements have so far been taken from more than 500 militants, and the process is ongoing on a daily basis.
According to the official, it will take “four to six” months to complete the process of taking statements and conducting investigations.
Regarding the possibility of handing over foreign militants to their home countries, the official said that any militant who has committed crimes against Iraqis will not be extradited and will instead be tried in Iraq.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Monday that Turkey has agreed to repatriate its nationals.
Lama Fadel, head of the Investigation and Research Unit at the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation, told Rudaw on Thursday that “foreign suspects are being charged under Iraq’s amended Penal Code No. 111 of 1969.”
She pointed out that under Article 6 of the law, Iraqi courts have jurisdiction to try foreigners who committed crimes outside Iraq, provided their crimes harmed Iraq’s national security, such as terrorist offenses.
ISIS controlled swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory in 2014 but was territorially defeated by Iraqi and Kurdish forces in both countries by 2019.
Malik Mohammed contributed to this article from Erbil, Kurdistan Region.
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