Iraq Security Source: Syria Kurds Hand Baghdad 100 Alleged ISIS Militants

A general view taken from a helicopter shows the Baghdad clock tower in Harthiya Square in the west of the Iraqi capital. (File photo: AFP)
A general view taken from a helicopter shows the Baghdad clock tower in Harthiya Square in the west of the Iraqi capital. (File photo: AFP)
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Iraq Security Source: Syria Kurds Hand Baghdad 100 Alleged ISIS Militants

A general view taken from a helicopter shows the Baghdad clock tower in Harthiya Square in the west of the Iraqi capital. (File photo: AFP)
A general view taken from a helicopter shows the Baghdad clock tower in Harthiya Square in the west of the Iraqi capital. (File photo: AFP)

A US-backed Kurdish force in northeast Syria handed over 100 alleged ISIS militants to Baghdad this week, a senior Iraqi security source told AFP on Sunday.

The suspects were being interrogated before being transferred to the judiciary, the source said.

But an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) denied the handover had taken place.

The Kurdish force has already handed over around 900 Iraqis caught fleeing the last remnants of the extremist “caliphate” in 2019.

Around 1,600 Iraqis were still detained in northeast Syria at the end of last year over allegedly fighting for ISIS, according to a United Nations report released this month.

Iraq has tried thousands of its nationals for belonging to a “terrorist” group, which carries the death penalty according to the country’s 2005 Counter-Terror Law.

Hundreds of them have been condemned to death but only a small portion of the sentences have been carried out as they require presidential approval.

Current President Barham Salih is known to be against capital punishment.

Two senior officials from the US-led coalition told AFP that the original deal was also meant to include the transfer of at least 500 Iraqi civilians from the Al-Hol displacement camp in northeast Syria to Iraqi territory.

Al-Hol is home to over 60,000 people who fled ISIS territory as the SDF closed in on the extremists.

About half of those living in the camp are Iraqis.

Kurdish authorities have insisted they must return to their homeland but the government in Baghdad has been slow to act.



Flooding Kills More Than 20 People in Morocco and Algeria 

A desert area is flooded after a heavy rainfall in Tazarine, Zagora, southern Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP)
A desert area is flooded after a heavy rainfall in Tazarine, Zagora, southern Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP)
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Flooding Kills More Than 20 People in Morocco and Algeria 

A desert area is flooded after a heavy rainfall in Tazarine, Zagora, southern Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP)
A desert area is flooded after a heavy rainfall in Tazarine, Zagora, southern Morocco, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP)

Torrential downpours hit North Africa's normally arid mountains and deserts over the weekend, causing flooding that killed nearly two dozen people in Morocco and Algeria and destroyed homes and critical infrastructure.

In Morocco, officials said the two days of storms surpassed historic averages, in some cases exceeding the annual average rainfall. The downpours affected some of the regions that experienced a deadly earthquake one year ago.

Meteorologists had predicted that a rare deluge could strike North Africa’s Sahara Desert, where many areas receive less than an inch of rain a year.

Officials in Morocco said 18 people were killed in rural areas and 56 homes collapsed. Nine people were missing. Drinking water and electrical infrastructure were damaged, along with major roads.

Among the dead in the region, where many tourists go to enjoy desert landscapes, were foreigners from Canada and Peru.

Rachid El Khalfi, Morocco’s Interior Ministry spokesperson, said in a statement on Monday that the government was working to restore communication and access to flooded regions in the “exceptional situation” and urged people to use caution.

In neighboring Algeria, which held a presidential election over the weekend, authorities said at least five died in the country's desert provinces. Interior Minister Brahim Merad called the situation “catastrophic” on state-owned television.

Algeria’s state-run news service APS said the government had sent thousands of civil protection and military officers to help with emergency response efforts and rescue families stuck in their homes. The floods also damaged bridges and trains.