Iraq News Now

SDF denies deal to send ISIS captives to Iraq

SDF denies deal to send ISIS captives to Iraq
SDF denies deal to send ISIS captives to Iraq

2019-03-15 00:00:00 - Source: Baghdad Post

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Friday

denied any agreement to hand over captured Iraqi ISIS fighters or their

families to Iraq, Reuters reported.

SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel cited Iraqi officials as issuing

statements in recent days saying there was a deal to hand Iraqi ISIS fighters

and their family members to Baghdad.

“(The SDF) denies the validity of these statements and

clarifies that there is no such agreement with the Iraqi government,” Gabriel

said in a statement tweeted by the SDF.

Iraqi officials said in February that the SDF, which is

trying to take ISIS’s last enclave in eastern Syria, had handed over 280 Iraqi

and foreign detainees to its military and there was an agreement to transfer

more captive jihadists.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday

that about 2,000 Iraqis in Syria, including women and children who had fled the

ISIS enclave, were expected to be sent home within weeks under an agreement

with Baghdad.

The SDF has captured thousands of ISIS fighters during its

advance across jihadist territory since 2015, culminating in its attack on the

group’s last enclave in east Syria at Baghouz.

Tens of thousands of people have flooded out of Baghouz and

nearby areas since the SDF began a “final assault” there last month, including

large numbers of ISIS supporters and their family members, including Iraqis.

This has created a humanitarian crisis at displacement camps

designed for far smaller numbers of people.

The fate of foreigners has also caused a challenge, with the

SDF accusing some countries of not doing enough to take back their own

citizens.





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