Syria IS militants surrender
But official warns that those captured still pose a threat
BAGHOUZ: Dozens of Islamic State group militants emerged from tunnels to surrender to US-backed forces in eastern Syria a day after their “caliphate” was declared defeated.
Syria’s Kurds warned that despite the demise of the proto-state, the thousands of foreign militants they have detained are a time bomb the world urgently needs to defuse.
A reporter saw dozens of people – mostly men – file out of the battered militant encampment in the remote village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border to board pick-up trucks on Sunday.
Some sported thick beards and wore long woollen kaftans over their dark-coloured robes as they trudged out of their final hideout under the drizzle.
“They are IS fighters who came out of tunnels and surrendered today (Sunday),” Kurdish spokesman Jiaker Amed said. “Some others could still be hiding inside.”
World leaders were quick to hail Saturday’s announcement by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that the last shred of land controlled by IS in Syria had been conquered.
But the top foreign affairs official for the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Abdel Karim Omar, warned that IS members captured during the assault still posed a threat.
“There are thousands of fighters, children and women from 54 countries, not including Iraqis and Syrians, who are a serious burden and danger for us and for the international community.
“Numbers increased massively in the last 20 days of the Baghouz operation,” Abdel Karim Omar said.
He also warned of the continuing danger posed by IS sleeper cells.
SDF is continuing to carry out operations to rout out any remaining militants in the area and uncover possible weapons caches.
“This back-clearance operation will be deliberate and thorough to help ensure long-term security for the area,” the US-led coalition backing SDF wrote on Twitter.
As SDF’s months-long assault closed in against the last IS strongholds in the Euphrates Valley, militants and their families gradually gathered in Baghouz.
While some escaped, many foreigners stayed behind, either surrendering or fighting to the death.
According to SDF, 66,000 people left the last IS pocket since January, including 5,000 militants and 24,000 of their relatives.
The assault was paused multiple times as the force allowed people to evacuate from the enclave on the banks of the Euphrates.
Most relatives have been crammed into the Al-Hol camp, a facility built for 20,000 people but which now shelters 72,000.
The Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria says it does not have the capacity to detain so many people, let alone put them on trial.
But the home countries of suspected IS members are reluctant to take them back due to potential security risks and the likely public backlash.
“There has to be coordination between us and the international community to address this danger,” Omar said.
“There are thousands of children who have been raised according to IS ideology. If these children are not re-educated and re-integrated in their societies of origin, they are potential future terrorists.” — AFP