Foreign Affairs

They ‘Can Be Reformed’: Over 600 Islamic State Fighters Released By Kurdish Authorities In Syria

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Kurdish officials freed hundreds of Islamic State militants in northern Syria under amnesty policies in the region, the Associated Press reported.

The leader of the Syrian National Council, Amina Omar, said the Islamic State fighters who were released had “no blood on their hands” and that they repented from their decision to join the Islamic State, the AP reported.

“They are people who can be reformed,” Omar said prior to releasing the men, the AP reported.

“Islamic State isn’t yet completely defeated, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S.-led task force that has been fighting the militants in Iraq and Syria.”

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Around 630 prisoners were released while over 250 others sentences were cut in half, the Syrian Democratic Council said, the AP reported. Tribal leaders in northeastern and eastern Syria reportedly requested amnesty and release for the fighters.

Around 10,000 Islamic State fighters are held at over two dozen Kurdish detention facilities across northeastern Syria, the AP reported. The detention centers also hold around 2,000 foreigners whose countries have reportedly denied them repatriation.

U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Democratic forces seized the village of Baghouz in 2019, reclaiming the last piece of land controlled by the Islamic State, the AP reported. Extremists then went underground, focusing on hit-and-run style attacks aimed at Kurdish-led fighters and the Syrian government.

Kurdish officials announced this month that tens of thousands of detained women and children, many connected to the Islamic State, will be allowed to leave a tent settlement known as camp al-Hol, the AP reported. The camp reportedly houses 65,000 people, including around 10,000 foreign Islamic State supporters.

Dozens of families have reportedly left the camp in the last 10 days, according to the AP.