Baladi News
The U.S. State Department on Monday called on countries to take in foreign fighters captured by America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, two days ahead of a meeting in Washington of dozens of coalition partners fighting Islamic State to discuss the way forward in Syria.
The department’s spokesman, Robert Palladino, did not say how many prisoners had been detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces - an alliance of militias dominated by the Kurdish YPG - but U.S. officials believe they number about 850.
The United States has long said it wants to see the fighters returned to their countries of origin in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to face prosecution.
“The SDF has demonstrated a clear commitment to detain these individuals securely and humanely,” Palladino said in a statement, which gave no details of where the prisoners were being held.
“The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF,” he added.
U.S. officials say there has been a slight uptick in the number of foreign fighters in SDF custody as U.S.-backed forces retake the last remaining Islamic State-held areas.
Source: Reuters.