Conflicting reports emerge in Iraq over transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Around 500 Islamic State (ISIS) detainees have reportedly been transferred from Syria to Iraq, two senior Iraqi security sources confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday. While their remarks align with statements from the US Central Command (CENTCOM), they contradict Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who told Rudaw on Monday that the transfer has not yet been implemented.

The two well-placed Iraqi security sources who spoke to Rudaw anonymously reported that four convoys carrying 475 Islamic State (ISIS) detainees have been transferred from prisons previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria (Rojava), noting that the suspects were primarily held in facilities in Rojava’s eastern Hasaka province.

The sources said the detainees were moved from Syria to facilities in Iraq by Tuesday evening.

One of the officials detailed that around “95 percent of those transferred are foreign nationals, with Syrians making up the majority of them.”

All of the detainees were held at Ghuwayran prison in Hasaka, the sources confirmed, adding that the transferred group includes some of the “most dangerous” ISIS members, many of whom were among the top echelon of the extremist organization.

Of note, Ghuwayran prison is a high-security detention facility that gained international attention in January 2022, when ISIS launched a massive operation to free thousands of its fighters of various nationalities, including hundreds of minors who had grown up under the extremist group in what it calls the “Cubs of the Caliphate.” After a brutal 10-day confrontation, the US-backed SDF regained control of the facility that continues to be described as a ticking time bomb.

CENTCOM announced last week that “U.S. forces successfully transported 150 ISIS fighters held at a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq,” adding that “ultimately, up to 7,000 ISIS detainees could be transferred from Syria to Iraqi-controlled facilities.”

Interestingly, the remarks by both CENTCOM and the two Iraqi security officials appear to contradict those of Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who said that while Baghdad and Washington “have discussed the [transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq] in principle, this has not been implemented yet.”

Nonetheless, Hussein added that “it is better for us to transfer them, because they were part of a terrorist organization, and that organization killed people in Iraq and Syria, so legally it is our right.”

The transfer of ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq comes days after a US-brokered ceasefire was extended for 15 days on Saturday, temporarily halting an offensive by Damascus forces and allied militants aimed at reclaiming territory previously held by Kurdish-led forces in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and near Hasaka.

The SDF, the de facto military force in Rojava and a key ally of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Syria, had controlled these areas after liberating them from the extremist group to prevent an ISIS resurgence.

One of the security sources who spoke to Rudaw on Wednesday said that not all detainees could be transferred within the remaining 10 days of the ceasefire, stressing, “All prisoners cannot be transferred to Iraq in the few days remaining, so we will definitely need a further extension of the ceasefire.”


Malik Abassi contributed to this report.

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