US-backed SDF hands over 280 Iraqi, foreign detainees to Iraq

There are meant to be more such handovers under an agreement to transfer a group of some 500 detainees held by the SDF in Syria, Iraqi military sources said.

US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have handed to Iraq 280 Iraqi and foreign detainees in recent days, Iraq’s military said in a statement on Sunday.

An Iraqi military colonel confirmed to Reuters that 130 people were transferred on Sunday, adding to the 150 transferred on Thursday. They included the first known transfers of non-Iraqi detainees to Iraq, but it was unclear if they will remain in Iraqi custody.

There are meant to be more such handovers under an agreement to transfer a group of some 500 detainees held by the SDF in Syria, Iraqi military sources said.

Among the 280 were as many as 14 French citizens and six Arabs of unspecific nationality, according to one military source close to the handover process who commands troops near the Syrian border.

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Last stand in Syria for fighters of so-called Islamic State

The US-backed rebel force in eastern Syria which is leading the assault on so-called Islamic State says its last piece of territory will fall "in a very short time".

The Iraqi military has said only Iraqi nationals were handed over by the SDF.

Spokesmen for the SDF and US-backed coalition could not immediately be reached for comment.