Iraq News

SDF say 8 foreign extremists captured including US teen

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Wednesday (January 9th) said they had captured eight alleged foreign extremists including an American teenager in fighting against the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), AFP reported.

The eight, detained on Sunday and Monday, include a 16-year-old American as well as a German and a Russian, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement.

Two are from Uzbekistan. The others are from Tajikistan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The YPG has spearheaded the battle against ISIS in eastern Syria, where they are close to flushing out the extremists from their last pocket near the Iraqi border.

They are the largest component in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are backed by the international coalition against ISIS.

The announcement comes after the SDF on Monday said they had captured two American, two Pakistani and an Irish foreign extremists on December 30th.

The Kurds in northeastern Syria say they hold around 1,000 foreign extremist fighters, as well as 550 foreign women and 1,200 children who lived with them.

They are from dozens of different nationalities and include a significant contingent from France.

The numbers of US extremists held by the Kurds are believed to be small.

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