QAMISHLI, Syria: Syria’s semi-autonomous Kurdish administration handed Tajikistan 146 women and children related to Daesh group militants, a Kurdish official said Monday, in the first such repatriation to the ex-Soviet state.
Thousands of foreign extremists joined Daesh as fighters, often bringing their wives and children to live in the “caliphate” declared by the group across swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The militants were dislodged in 2019 from their last scrap of territory in Syria by Kurdish-led forces backed by a US-led coalition, and Kurdish authorities have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens from crowded displaced camps.
But nations have mostly received them only sporadically, fearing a domestic political backlash.
The Kurds handed over “42 women and 104 children, including orphans, who were held in the Al-Hol and Roj camps” in northeast Syria to Tajikistan’s ambassador to Kuwait Zabidullah Zabidov, Kurdish foreign affairs official Fanar Al-Kaeet said.
Zabidov is handling the repatriation process for Tajikistan.
The ex-Soviet state has been in contact with Syria’s Kurds “for months” to repatriate their citizens, Kaeet said during a press conference in the northeastern city of Qamishli.
The women “did not commit any crimes or terrorist acts in northeastern Syria,” he said.
Al-Hol and Roj camps are home to tens of thousands of relatives of Daesh militants from Syria and abroad, with the former holding 10,000 foreigners.
Kurdish-led forces escorted the women, some in colorful clothing, others in long black robes, and the children, as they were bused out to Qamishli airport, AFP correspondents in Qamishli reported.
Some women tried to hide their faces.
Young children timidly peeked through the bus windows, from behind thick curtains that hid the other passengers.
Rights groups have long decried grim living conditions and rampant criminality in the north Syrian camps holding militants’ relatives.
According to HRW, more than 41,000 foreign citizens — the majority under 12 years old — are being held in camps and prisons in northeast Syria over alleged Daesh links.
Syria’s Kurds repatriate nearly 150 Daesh-linked Tajiki women, children
https://arab.news/z2ewb
Syria’s Kurds repatriate nearly 150 Daesh-linked Tajiki women, children
- The ex-Soviet state has been in contact with Syria’s Kurds ‘for months’ to repatriate their citizens
- Al-Hol and Roj camps are home to tens of thousands of relatives of Daesh militants from Syria and abroad
Military coalition in Yemen condemns attack on commander’s convoy
- Al-Maliki also said the coalition is committed to supporting Yemeni security efforts and pursuing those involved in the attack and bringing them to justice
RIYADH: The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen condemned on Wednesday an attack that targeted the convoy of a senior commander.
The attack in the Jaoula area of Lahj governorate targeted vehicles under the command of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, who heads the second division of the Giants Forces.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said there were numerous deaths injuries and called the ambush “a criminal act that is contrary to all human and moral values.”
He said the coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia, will continue coordinating with the relevant authorities to ensure the security of citizens and maintain stability, Saudi Press Agency reported.
He called for people to work with the Yemeni government and military authorities to confront any sabotage attempts or terrorist operations targeting the security and stability of liberated governorates.
Al-Maliki also said the coalition is committed to supporting Yemeni security efforts and pursuing those involved in the attack and bringing them to justice.
