ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdish YPG arrested at least three French nationals in Hasakah alleged to be fighters who came to Syria to fight with ISIS. Their fates remain unknown.
“Several French (nationals) were arrested in northern Syria in the Hasakah area, near the Iraqi border,” French TV channel LCI has reported.
LCI cited an unnamed source that provided the information and broadcast photos of the alleged ISIS fighters in Syria.
The People's Protection Units (YPG) is the dominate force in northeastern Syria. They are the backbone of the international anti-ISIS coalition's partnered ground forces, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Neither the SDF nor the YPG have made public statements regarding the incident.
France, a member of the coalition, declined to comment to a query from French media. The French interior ministry said it could neither deny nor confirm the arrests.
Among those arrested, according to LCI's source, was Thomas Barnouin who is believed to have gone to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS.
According Radio France Internationale, Barnouin was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006 for running a jihadi recruitment network in France and was an associate of Mohammed Merah, a gunman who killed seven people in the Toulouse region in 2012, including three Jewish children.
RFI also reported Barnouin is close to brothers Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain, who were identified by officials as the voices in an audio message claiming ISIS responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in 2015.
LCI reported that they could face the death penalty in the hands of the Kurdish security forces. France abolished capital punishment in 1981.
An investigation published by The Wall Street Journal in May 2017 found that French special forces “have for months enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined the senior ranks of Islamic State.”
About 500 ISIS members of French nationality remain in Syria, France's foreign minister said on December 9.
In early 2017, the US intelligence community estimated that some 40,000 foreign fighters have joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria since the terror organization first declared its caliphate in 2014.
On December 21, the coalition told Rudaw English that an estimated 1,000 ISIS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria.
“Several French (nationals) were arrested in northern Syria in the Hasakah area, near the Iraqi border,” French TV channel LCI has reported.
LCI cited an unnamed source that provided the information and broadcast photos of the alleged ISIS fighters in Syria.
The People's Protection Units (YPG) is the dominate force in northeastern Syria. They are the backbone of the international anti-ISIS coalition's partnered ground forces, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Neither the SDF nor the YPG have made public statements regarding the incident.
France, a member of the coalition, declined to comment to a query from French media. The French interior ministry said it could neither deny nor confirm the arrests.
Among those arrested, according to LCI's source, was Thomas Barnouin who is believed to have gone to Syria in 2014 to join ISIS.
According Radio France Internationale, Barnouin was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006 for running a jihadi recruitment network in France and was an associate of Mohammed Merah, a gunman who killed seven people in the Toulouse region in 2012, including three Jewish children.
RFI also reported Barnouin is close to brothers Fabien and Jean-Michel Clain, who were identified by officials as the voices in an audio message claiming ISIS responsibility for attacks in Paris that killed 130 people in 2015.
LCI reported that they could face the death penalty in the hands of the Kurdish security forces. France abolished capital punishment in 1981.
An investigation published by The Wall Street Journal in May 2017 found that French special forces “have for months enlisted Iraqi soldiers to hunt and kill French nationals who have joined the senior ranks of Islamic State.”
About 500 ISIS members of French nationality remain in Syria, France's foreign minister said on December 9.
In early 2017, the US intelligence community estimated that some 40,000 foreign fighters have joined ISIS in Iraq and Syria since the terror organization first declared its caliphate in 2014.
On December 21, the coalition told Rudaw English that an estimated 1,000 ISIS fighters remain in Iraq and Syria.
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