Gov’t confirms presence of ISIS fighters “with Dutch link” in Iraqi prisons
The Netherlands’ caretaker government confirmed Thursday that among prisoners recently transferred from Syria to Iraq by the United States are individuals with alleged ties to the Islamic State who may hold Dutch nationality.
Caretaker Justice and Security Minister Foort van Oosten and Foreign Affairs Minister David van Weel said in a letter that authorities are still collecting information to identify the detainees and determine whether they currently hold Dutch citizenship. They did not specify how many people are involved, NU.nl reported.
Iraqi authorities report that the prisoners include fighters from 61 nationalities. Earlier this month, a security official said on an anonymous basis that Dutch, Belgian, German, and French nationals were among the detainees. According to the Shafaq news agency, more than 4,200 prisoners hold Arab nationalities, while 983 are from other countries.
The U.S. military is transferring roughly 7,000 IS prisoners from Syria to Iraq. The prisoners had been held in camps run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. U.S. officials reportedly feared possible escapes amid tensions between the SDF and Syrian government forces.
The Dutch government emphasized that female Dutch foreign fighters and their children remain in camps. “At this moment there are no indications that female foreign fighters with a Dutch link and their children, who were staying in the camps, are outside the camps secured by the Syrian transitional government,” the ministers wrote.
According to the Dutch intelligence service AIVD, at the end of last month there were about 75 Dutch foreign fighters in Syria, Iraq, or Turkey, with roughly one-third in Syria.
The women were housed in the Syrian-Kurdish camps Al Roj and Al Hol. Around 170 minors with a Dutch link were also in the region, including 155 in Syria.
