WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than half of the 5,700 Islamic State (ISIS) detainees recently transferred to Iraq are Syrian nationals, Rudaw has learned.
Data obtained by Rudaw from the Iraqi Ministry of Justice’s Correction Service presents a breakdown of citizens from over 60 countries now being held in Baghdad’s high-security Karkh Prison. The data show that over 3,500 are from Syria and 460 from Iraq. The vast majority are from the Middle East and North Africa, according to the document reviewed by Rudaw.
The US military’s transfer of thousands of detainees from Syria to Iraq was one of the largest in recent years. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Rudaw in late January they include senior ISIS leaders.
Attacks by the Syrian army and allied armed groups on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in January triggered ISIS prison breaks, prompting the transfers to Iraq by the US military. The US-led coalition defeated ISIS territorially in Syria alongside the SDF, which ran the prisons for more than a decade.
The coalition has since shifted its partnership to Syria's interim government, which now controls the country's prisons as it works to centralize SDF-run agencies and facilities. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is a former Al-Qaeda leader who has since renounced the group and pledged to fight terrorism.
The ministry’s data show that while the detainees hail from across the globe, the vast majority are from the region. The breakdown of regional detainees includes 3,544 from Syria; 460 from Iraq; 234 from Tunisia; 187 from Morocco; 181 from Turkey; 116 from Egypt; and 68 from Saudi Arabia.
Dozens of detainees are from Western nations, many of whom were held in northeastern Syria for years following the 2019 territorial defeat of ISIS.
The list obtained by Rudaw includes 27 from Germany; 10 from the United Kingdom; five from Canada; four from France; and two from the United States. Another 63 prisoners are from Tajikistan in Central Asia.
Hussein told Rudaw on Saturday that some countries have agreed to repatriate their citizens but warned it would be "a long and difficult process."
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed the operation on Wednesday, reporting that its National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) worked "around the clock" with the US military and the State Department to ensure security for the prisoner transfers.
"Nearly 6,000 of the most dangerous ISIS detainees have been transferred out of Syria and secured in Iraq," Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement.
The move follows a directive from President Donald Trump to clear makeshift detention facilities in Syria and hold the "most dangerous" individuals in more permanent Iraqi custody. NCTC Director Joe Kent led delegations to Baghdad and Syria to finalize the transfer agreement between the Iraqi and Syrian governments.