“`html
US troops have transferred 150 Islamic State (IS) prisoners from Syria to Iraq under plans that could see 7,000 detainees moved across the border.
The new Syrian government under President Ahmed al Sharaa has been trying to reassert its control over the whole country, leading to clashes with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia wich held the nation’s northeast.
More than 10,000 IS members are being held in Syrian prisons, along with thousands more women and children with ties to the group.
Now US forces have moved 150 prisoners held at a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq, the US military said in a statement.
Up to 7,000 IS detainees could ultimately be transferred from Syria to Iraqi-controlled facilities,the statement added.
The head of US forces in the Middle East, Admiral Brad Cooper, said the scheme had been worked out in agreement with the Iraqi government.
