US Special Forces have captured an Islamic State (ISIS) operative in Iraq, adding to the growing number of ISIS detainees in US custody, defense official said. “American defense officials described the capture as a crucial development in battling the Islamic State but said it also raised questions about handling what is likely to be a growing group of detainees.” The New York Times wrote Tuesday. The concern among officials is the prospect of capturing bigger numbers of ISIS militants in the coming months especially after the arrival in Iraq of a 200-member Special Operations team of Delta Force commandos. According to the NY Times, as quoting US defense officials, “the detainee, whom they declined to identify, was being interrogated by American officials at a temporary detention facility in the city of Erbil in northern Iraq. They said the plan was to eventually turn him over to Iraqi or Kurdish officials.” The operation that led to the capture of the ISIS militant was conducted recently in Iraq, revealed US officials. The captured operative is likely to have occupied an important position within ISIS hence “it could take weeks or months to finish questioning the operative.” The article said that the US defense department does not “intend to establish a long-term American facility to hold Islamic State detainees, and Obama administration officials ruled out sending any to the United States military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.”
