Syria hands over 50 suspected IS militants to Iraq

Syria handed over to Iraq on Saturday at least 50 people accused of belonging to the Islamic State [IS] group, Iraqi security authorities said.

The suspected militants were handed over to the Federal Intelligence and Investigation Agency in the Iraqi interior ministry.

العراق يتسلم ٥٠ متهماً عراقياً ينتمون الى عناصر عصابات داعش من الذين القى القبض عليهم داخل الأراضي السورية سابقاً.
وقد جرت عملية التسليم بالتنسيق بين قيادة العمليات المشتركة والجانب السوري عن طريق منفذ ربيعة ...

— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) January 8, 2022

The extremist group tore through and seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014.

Despite being declared defeated by Iraq in late 2017, the group has been able to maintain a sleeper cell presence in parts of the country’s north and west, conducting a number of deadly attacks targeting federal and Iraqi Kurdish security forces in recent weeks.

IS also continues to wage a low-level insurgency in Syria.

The Iraqi government has said that it would need the US-led coalition's continued support to carry out airstrikes on IS remnants along the border with Syria, even after foreign troops leave the country.