US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Friday that it has completed a 23-day mission to transfer more than 5,700 adult male ISIS (Daesh) fighters from detention facilities in northeastern Syria to Iraqi custody, APA reports, citing Anadolu Agency.
The transfer mission began on Jan. 21 and concluded following a nighttime flight from northeastern Syria to Iraq on Feb. 12, according to a CENTCOM statement.
CENTCOM said US forces successfully transported the detainees to help ensure they “remain secure in detention facilities.”
“Job well done to the entire Joint Force team who executed this exceptionally challenging mission on the ground and in the air with great focus, professionalism, and collaboration with our regional partners,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander.
“We appreciate Iraq’s leadership and recognition that transferring the detainees is essential to regional security,” he added.
US and coalition forces operating under Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) led mission planning, coordination, and execution.
“I am extremely proud of the coalition’s exceptional work,” said US Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Lambert, CJTF-OIR commander.
“The successful execution of this orderly and secure transfer operation will help prevent an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” Lambert said.
CENTCOM established CJTF-OIR in 2014 to advise, assist, and enable partner forces in the fight against ISIS, which was territorially defeated in 2019.
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About 3,000 ISIS detainees have so far been transferred from Syrian prisons to Iraq and the process is continuing, Iraq’s foreign minister said on Friday, adding that Baghdad was in discussions with some countries to repatriate them soon, APA reports, citing Al Arabiya.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Fuad Hussein said Baghdad would need more financial assistance to deal with the influx, and warned that there had been a recent uptick in Islamic State activity in Syria.
He said that, while Baghdad took the United States’ signals seriously, the nomination of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki to take up the role again was an internal issue.
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