Iraq’s decision to accept 150 ISIS captives from Syria represents a pivotal moment in the long war on terror. Officials in Baghdad verified the Wednesday transfer, which includes both locals and foreign militants charged with civilian massacres.
Previously confined in Hasakah’s SDF jails, the prisoners were handed over following talks with the anti-ISIS coalition. They head straight to Iraq’s government correctional facilities, with additional moves tied to threat evaluations.
U.S. CENTCOM hailed the operation, moving detainees from a high-security Hasakah site to Iraq. It’s the opening salvo in a plan to consolidate up to 7,000 ISIS prisoners under Iraqi control, averting potential mass escapes.
In the last year, coalition forces captured 300+ ISIS operatives in Syria and took out 20 more. Think tank fellow Adrian Stueni points to ISIS’s sharp decline two decades post-founding.
The caliphate once commanded 80,000 fighters, 42,000 of them foreign from over 120 countries. Today, remnants in Iraq and Syria dwindle to 1,500-3,000. This repatriation bolsters stability, yet underscores the need for worldwide counter-terror vigilance.