The U.S. military has completed the transfer of thousands of Islamic State group detainees from Syria to Iraq, where they are expected to stand trial in the future, the U.S. Central Command said Friday.
CENTCOM said that the transfer that began on Jan. 21 saw U.S. forces transporting more than 5,700 adult male IS suspects from detention facilities in Syria to Iraqi custody. The prisoners were transferred to Iraq at the request of Baghdad — a move welcomed by the U.S.-led coalition that had for years fought against IS.
Read more…
Source: AP News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Iraqi Security Forces seized and destroyed IEDs, UXO and bomb-making materials in Kirkuk Governorate
April 14, 2022
The Joint Operations Command alongside the Counter-Terrorism Service and Special Forces with support of the Air Force and Army Aviation seized and destroyed numerous IEDs, shells, mortars, 52 kg of ammonia nitrate and various bomb-making materials in Kirkuk Governorate and the areas adjacent to the Hamrin mountain range. https://twitter.com/SecMedCell/status/1514577196081369098 Source: Security Media Cell of the Prime Minister’s ...
- ISIL 2.0: How the group became a franchise
April 12, 2022
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) has changed form several times over the years. With its origins in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, ISIL was forged from an alliance between an al-Qaeda offshoot and elements of the defeated Iraqi Baath party. The group grew exponentially, basing ...
- Israel: 2 arrested over November explosion at Health Ministry office in Nazareth
April 7, 2022
Police announced Thursday that two people have been arrested in connection with an explosion at a Health Ministry office in the northern city of Nazareth last year, which caused damage but no injuries. The arrests were made in a joint operation with the Shin Bet. The two suspects were named as Ja’afar Fakhoury, 20, from Nazareth, and ...
- Landmines: illegal weapons that litter the Middle East
April 6, 2022
The 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War was so horrific that it has come to be known as the Middle East’s First World War. The numbers speak for themselves. Some estimates put the number of casualties as high as 2 million people. But parallels with Europe between 1914 and 1918 do not stop at the number of deaths. ...
- UN: Mines kill, injure more than 500 children in Iraq
April 5, 2022
At least 519 children have been killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Iraq in the past five years, UN agencies have warned. “More than 80 percent of children affected are boys,” the rights groups UNICEF, the world body’s children’s agency, and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said in a joint statement ...
- Saudi air defences destroy 9 armed drones
March 25, 2022
The Saudi-led Arab coalition said on Friday that Saudi defenses shot down nine armed drones fired at the Kingdom. It said the aircraft were aimed at civilian locations and energy facilities. It accused the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen of being behind the failed attack, blaming them for threatening regional and security. Read more… Source: Asharq Al-Awsat News
- Ukrainian troops are ‘using Taliban-style roadside bombs’ to destroy Russian tanks
March 24, 2022
The success of Ukrainian forces in deploying improvised explosive devices (IEDs) similar to those seen in the Middle East follows extensive military programmes run by British and American troops to bolster Kyiv’s military capabilities Ukrainian troops are claimed to be making devastating use of roadside bombs similar to those deployed by insurgents against British and American ...
- Senior Yemeni military leader killed in car bombing in Aden
March 23, 2022
A car bombing killed a senior Yemeni military leader and three of his entourage in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday, three security sources said. The defense ministry confirmed that Brigadier General Thabet Gawas was killed in a “cowardly attack carried out by several terrorist elements” but provided no further details. Gawas was returning from ...
- France Renews its Commitment to Protecting Civilians impacted by Explosive Ordnance in Iraq
March 22, 2022
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) welcomes an additional contribution of EUR 480,000 (approximately USD 550,000) from the Crisis and Support Center of the French ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs that will support life-saving mine action activities in Iraq. Activities will include survey and clearance of areas liberated from Da’esh contaminated with explosive ...
- U.S. troops will likely be in Iraq for years to come, Central Command boss says
March 18, 2022
About six months after the U.S. ended its longest war, the outgoing head of U.S. Central Command hinted that U.S. involvement in Iraq is probably going to go on even longer. As the 19th anniversary of Operation Iraq Freedom approaches, there are roughly 2,500 troops still in Iraq, playing a strict advise-and-assist role at the invitation ...
- Yemen: Car bomb hits convoy of southern military commander in Abyan province
March 15, 2022
A car bomb struck the convoy of a Yemeni southern military commander in Abyan province, killing two soldiers and seriously injuring two others on Tuesday, a military official said. Brigadier General Abdul Latif al-Sayed survived the assassination attempt, said Mohammed al-Naqib, spokesman for the Southern Armed Forces. He said two assailants were killed. There was no immediate ...
- Syria: Counter-terrorism unit raids IED factory, arrests ISIS leader in Manbij
March 15, 2022
Anti-terrorist units arrested an ISIS leader in the northern Syrian city of Manbij on Friday, local security officials said. According to a statement released by the Manbij Military Council (MMC), the MMC’s anti-terrorism unit arrested the ISIS leader Jihad Jamal Hamidi, also known as Azzam. During the raid, a factory for manufacturing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was ...
- UNICEF: 6 children killed by mines in February in Iraq
March 15, 2022
A total of six Iraqi children, all boys, have lost their lives due to explosive remnants of war (ERW) in February, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement on Monday. Moreover, UNICEF said explosive remnants had maimed ten children (nine boys, one girl). “ERWs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) remain one of the leading ...
- Iraq: Construction workers found found IEDs inside walls of al-Nuri mosque in Mosul
March 14, 2022
The iconic 12th Century mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul is being rebuilt after ISIS nearly destroyed it five years ago. It’s now well under reconstruction — a symbol of the city’s comeback. Omar Taqa, the assistant site coordinator for the reconstruction of al-Nuri, says crews found 11 improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that hadn’t ...
- Lebanon: Three Islamic State attacks thwarted in Beirut
February 23, 2022
‘A terrorist group had recruited young Palestinian men in Lebanon to carry out major bombing attacks’ Lebanon thwarted a plan by the Islamic State group to carry out three suicide bombings targeting Shiite religious compounds in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the interior ministry said Wednesday. “A terrorist group had recruited young Palestinian men in Lebanon to carry out ...
