ISIL families and fighters held by Kurdish forces in Syria remain a real dilemma for the international community after Washington announced on Sunday the killing of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The following are the most important information about these detainees:
- Their numbers
The SDF arrests some 12,000 ISIS operatives, including 2,500 to 3,000 foreigners from 54 countries, and the Kurds do not give statistics on the nationalities of their detainees.
French officials say that between the foreign detainees between sixty and seventy French, while Brussels confirmed the presence of 13 Belgian detainees, and it is believed that there are about 4,000 Syrian detainees, as well as Iraqis.
- Their whereabouts
Kurdish forces hold ISIS operatives in at least seven prisons and do not disclose their locations, but it is estimated that there are at least two in al-Qamishli, one in al-Dashisha village, and a fourth in al-Malikiyah (Derek) in al-Hasakah province.
- The possibilities of their escape
After the announcement of al-Baghdadi's death on Sunday, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, predicted that IS would "take revenge" and said "everything is expected, including attacking prisons."
Last week, US State Department envoy to Syria James Jeffrey announced in the US Congress that "more than 100" ISIS prisoners had escaped and their fate was unknown.
- Retrieve them and try them
Since the declaration of the elimination of the caliphate, the Kurds have demanded the countries concerned to return their citizens in their custody or the establishment of an international tribunal to try them.
It seems that the Turkish operation has forced those countries to seek alternative solutions, but still hesitate to restore the "jihadists" who hold their nationalities, and some of them - like France - to transfer these to Iraq in preparation for trial there.
- their families
ISIS families are housed in three Kurdish-run camps: Rouj, Al-Houl (Al-Hasakah) and Ein Issa (Al-Raqqa).