Iraq has transferred more than 4,500 ISIS (Daesh) members from Syria to Iraqi prisons, in coordination with the US-led coalition against the terror group, an Iraqi military spokesman said Thursday.
"The decision (to transfer ISIS members to Iraq) aimed to prevent these terrorists from escaping from Syrian prisons and to ensure that they do not turn into a ticking time bomb that threatens security," Sabah al-Numan told the state news agency INA.
"The government's decision was bold and based on accurate calculations and calculated procedures to transfer them and place them in Iraqi prisons without any problems occurring."
He said the transfer of the ISIS members "was conducted in coordination between the Iraqi authorities and the anti-ISIS international coalition."
"All prisons where they were placed are perfectly closed…and are fully under the authority of the Justice Ministry of Justice," he said.
"No breach or case of indiscipline has been recorded in those prisons,"the spokesman said.
He said the Iraqi government has repeatedly urged foreign governments to repatriate their nationals among the detained ISIS members.
The spokesman expressed hope that more countries will take steps to retrieve their citizens to help close the file "which continues to pose a risk to stability in Iraq and Syria, particularly as families of ISIS members remain in Syria."
In late 2017, Iraq declared victory over ISIS after three years of fierce fighting.
The terror group, however, remains active in northern, western and eastern provinces, carrying out occasional attacks, while the government continues to launch security and military operations to eliminate its remnants.
