U.S. calls for countries to prosecute their citizens held in Syria after fighting for Islamic State

Reporting from Beirut —  The United States on Monday called on other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group and who are now being held by Washington’s local partners.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, say they have detained more than 900 foreign fighters during their U.S.-backed campaign against Islamic State in northeastern Syria, where they are battling to drive the extremists from their last tiny pocket of territory.

The question of what to do with the detained foreigners has grown increasingly thorny since President Trump’s surprise announcement in December that he intends to withdraw all American forces from the country.

“The United States calls upon other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens detained by the SDF and commends the continued efforts of the SDF to return these foreign terrorist fighters to their countries of origin,” U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.

The statement came as the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the capture earlier this month of three people alleged to be Islamic State fighters, from Germany, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In addition to the hundreds of militants, the SDF is also holding more than 4,000 family members of Islamic State fighters.

Very few countries have expressed readiness to repatriate their citizens, posing a dilemma for the Kurdish-led forces, particularly after the United States said it planned to withdraw.

Last week, France’s interior minister, Christophe Castaner, told French media that a handful of French jihadis had already returned home and that more would follow soon after the departure of American troops.

Britain refuses to take back citizens who joined Islamic State and has reportedly stripped them of their citizenship.

Other European countries have remained largely silent about the fate of men and women whom many see as a security threat.

Palladino commended the SDF and said the force has “demonstrated a clear commitment to detain these individuals securely and humanely.”

Islamic State has lost virtually all the territory it once held in Syria and neighboring Iraq, but Palladino said it remains “a significant terrorist threat,” adding that “collective action is imperative to address this shared international security challenge.”

A woman looks on as people return to their homes Saturday after Islamic State was pushed out of Hajin, Syria, by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

(Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images)

A Defense Department Inspector General report released Monday said Islamic State “remains a potent force of battle-hardened and well-disciplined fighters that could likely resurge in Syria absent continued counterterrorism pressure.” It said the militants are still able to coordinate offensives “as well as operate as a decentralized insurgency.”

The campaign against the extremists is focused on a small, remote patch of land in eastern Syria, where thousands of civilians remain holed up with the militants. The battles have slowed in recent days to allow civilians to flee from the nearly 1.5-square-mile area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely tracks the conflict, said more than 36,000 people, including many foreigners and more than 3,000 fighters, have trickled out of the small area in recent weeks. Most were evacuated to displaced people camps, but many were also taken for interrogation and questioning.

Syrian opposition activists said Monday that the Syrian Democratic Forces killed six children and three women who were trying to flee.

An SDF spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the shooting.

The Observatory group said the incident occurred Saturday night, adding that the gunfire came from SDF positions. It said the civilians had paid money to smugglers to take them out of the area controlled by the extremists.

The DeirEzzor 24, an activist collective, said the incident occurred near Tanak oil field, which is close to the front line between Islamic State and the SDF, blaming the Kurdish-led force for the shooting.