Iraq Sentences 1,300 Syrian Affiliated to Daesh Militants, Part of US Military Operations
Iraqi judicial institutions have begun an investigative step to try more than 1,300 prisoners from Syria affiliated with the Daesh militants. This investigation is part of the US military operation.
"The investigation process has begun against 1,387 members of the Daesh terrorist organization who were recently transferred from the Syrian territory," the Iraqi judicial agency's media office said in a statement, quoted by AFP on Monday, February 2.
"Under the supervision of the head of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, several judges who are experts in counter-terrorism began the investigation," the statement continued.
The detainees are among 7,000 Daesh militants affiliated with the group, who were previously held by Syrian Kurdish fighters.
According to the US military, the prisoners were transferred to Iraq after Syrian government forces recaptured Kurdish-held territory.
According to several Iraqi security sources, the Daesh militant suspects are citizens of Syria, Iraq, and Europe.
In 2014, Daesh (Daesh Movement) invaded Syria and Iraq, carrying out massacres and forcing women and girls into sex slavery.
Backed by US-led military forces, Iraq declared Daesh's defeat in the country in 2017, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) finally defeated the group in Syria two years later.
The SDF then imprisoned thousands of suspected extremists and detained tens of thousands of their relatives in camps.
Last month, the US said the purpose of its alliance with Kurdish forces in Syria had largely ended, as Syria launched an offensive to retake territory long held by the SDF.
In Iraq, where many prisons are full of Daesh suspects, courts have handed down hundreds of death sentences and life terms to people convicted of terrorism offences, including many foreign fighters.
The Iraqi Judicial Authority in this case said its investigative procedures "will comply with national laws and international standards."