U.S. and Iraq Complete Transfer of Nearly 6,000 ISIS Detainees From Syria

Overview

• Officials say more than 5,700 adult male detainees were moved in a U.S.-led operation that ultimately relocated nearly 6,000 from vulnerable prisons in northeastern Syria.
• CENTCOM executed the logistical lift as ODNI coordinated daily across agencies, with State Department diplomacy and Iraqi cooperation facilitating the transfers.
• The mission began publicly on Jan. 21 with an initial airlift from Hasakah and concluded with detainees held under Iraqi authority at a facility near Baghdad International Airport.
• FBI teams are enrolling detainees biometrically as Iraqi authorities conduct interrogations and open prosecutions, with U.S. officials pressing foreign governments to take back their nationals.
• U.S. officials warned a mass escape could amount to an instant ISIS reconstitution, while Human Rights Watch flagged risks of abuse and unfair trials and reports point to al-Hol camp populations dispersing as control shifts.