Iraq News

Iraqi Kurds say 4,000 ISIS elements held including foreigners

Authorities in Iraq's Kurdish region said Tuesday (February 6th) they were holding 4,000 members of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), including foreigners, who were detained in recent years, AFP reported.

They include around 1,000 extremists who surrendered during the battle for al-Hawija, the last ISIS urban stronghold in Iraq until its fall late last year, Iraqi Kurdish official Dindar Zibari told reporters.

He said 350 people detained in northern Iraq who admitted to belonging to ISIS had been transferred from the city of Kirkuk to Kurdish-run prisons.

"The names of all these prisoners were submitted to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross, but they did not inform the families of the 350 people," Zibari said.

He did not specify the number of foreigners among those arrested but said some had already been sent home, including a Japanese journalist detained in 2016 on suspicion of ties to ISIS.

Baghdad has called for detainees to be handed over to the federal government but that "should be done under the supervision of the UN", Zibari said.

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