Kurdish authorities in north-east Syria on Wednesday (May 29th) handed over 148 Uzbek women and children linked to the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) to diplomats from the Central Asian country for repatriation, officials said.

In total, more than 300 Uzbeks were due to be sent home, spokesman Kamal Akef told AFP, as the Kurds look to transfer away thousands of foreign extremists trapped in camps following the defeat of ISIS.

Hundreds of Uzbeks are believed to have joined militants fighting in Iraq and Syria including ISIS.

Suspected ISIS fighters from the country who surrendered or were caught fleeing the extremists' last redoubt are still being held in Kurdish-run jails.

The women and children on Wednesday arrived in the town of Qamishli on large white buses, an AFP correspondent said.

The group, including some 90 children, would be taken by plane to Russia's air base in Syria, from where they would then be transported to Uzbekistan, Akef said.

A second batch of Uzbek women and children would be sent in the coming days, he said.