Iraq to Prosecute Daesh Detainees Transferred from Syria Amid Security Fears
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council announced on Thursday it would initiate legal proceedings against Daesh detainees transferred from Syria, following mounting security concerns after the swift collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria.
For years, more than 10,000 members of the extremist group have been held in around a dozen prisons and detention camps in northeastern Syria, guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Recent military setbacks suffered by the SDF raised alarm over the security of those facilities and the risk of mass escapes.
The U.S. military confirmed on Tuesday that 150 Daesh detainees had already been transferred from Syria to Iraq, adding that the operation could ultimately involve the relocation of as many as 7,000 prisoners. The move was driven by concerns over deteriorating prison security, where thousands of women and children linked to the group are also being held.
A U.S. official told Reuters that around 200 low-level Daesh fighters escaped from Syria’s Shaddadi prison earlier this week, although Syrian government forces were later able to recapture many of them.
Iraqi officials said Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani discussed the transfer of Daesh prisoners with Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa during a phone call on Tuesday. The transfers, they said, followed a formal request by Baghdad to Syrian authorities.
Government spokesperson Basim Al-Awadi described the move as a “pre-emptive step to protect Iraq’s national security,” stressing that Iraq could not delay action given the rapidly evolving security and political situation in Syria.
Daesh, which emerged in Iraq and Syria, controlled large swathes of territory in both countries between 2014 and 2017 before being defeated in a military campaign led by a U.S.-backed international coalition.
An Iraqi military spokesperson confirmed that Iraq had received an initial batch of 150 detainees, including both Iraqi nationals and foreigners. The spokesperson said the scale of future transfers would depend on security and field assessments, adding that the detainees include senior figures within the militant organization.
In a statement, the Supreme Judicial Council said Iraqi courts would take “due legal measures” against the detainees once they are formally handed over and placed in specialized correctional facilities, in accordance with the Iraqi constitution and criminal law.
“All suspects, regardless of their nationalities or positions within the terrorist organization, are subject exclusively to the authority of the Iraqi judiciary,” the council said.
Iraqi officials added that detainees would be separated under the new legal framework, with senior figures including foreign nationals — to be held at a high-security detention facility near Baghdad airport, previously used by U.S. forces.
Two Iraqi legal sources said the transferred detainees include multiple nationalities, with Iraqis forming the largest group, alongside Arab fighters from other countries and European and Western nationals. The group reportedly includes citizens of Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, and other European Union states, all of whom will be prosecuted under Iraqi jurisdiction.
