ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s foreign minister on Thursday revealed that the country has repatriated over 3,000 fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) group from Syria and that most of them have been tried in the courts of law.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein arrived in Riyadh on Thursday to attend a ministerial meeting of the US-led global coalition against ISIS and conveyed Iraq’s willingness to continue fighting the terror group and improving security in “liberated areas” from the militants.
“The government has returned around 3,000 terrorist Iraqi fighters detained in Syria and tried most of them,” Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed al-Sahaf cited Hussein as saying, adding that Baghdad “pays special attention” to the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria “and gives priority” to finding a lasting solution for the facility.
Al-Hol camp is located in northeast Syria’s Hasaka province and houses over 50,000 ISIS-linked people. The camp has infamously been branded a breeding ground for terrorism, with authorities describing it as a “ticking time bomb,” saying the situation in the camp is “very dangerous.”
“The Iraqi government thanks the international community, especially the partners in restoring stability, for their continuous support and contribution to the stabilization fund and projects to rebuild infrastructure and basic services,” Hussein added.
On Wednesday, the UN said it is seeking to establish a central archive for millions of digitized documents of ISIS crimes in Iraq, an initiative it said will play a key role in prosecuting the militants for their international crimes committed in Iraq.
ISIS swept through swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014 but was declared devoid of territorial control in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Despite the group lacking any substantial territorial control, it still continues to pose a serious security risk through bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions, especially in rural areas where security is below par.
During the meeting in Riyadh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the fight against ISIS was “not yet done” and called on countries to facilitate the repatriation of their citizens languishing in camps in Syria.
