US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched a new mission today, Wednesday 21 January, to transfer Islamic State detainees from northeastern Syria to Iraq.
CENTCOM said the move aims to help ensure the “terrorists” remain in secure detention facilities, adding that the operation began when US forces successfully transferred 150 Islamic State fighters who were being held in al-Hasakah governorate (northeastern Syria) to a secure location in Iraq.
CENTCOM expects the number of detainees to be moved from Syria to facilities under Iraqi control to reach 7,000.
The commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said US forces are coordinating closely with regional partners, including the Iraqi government.
He expressed appreciation for Iraq’s, as he put it, valuable role in ensuring the Islamic State’s final defeat. He said facilitating the orderly and secure transfer of IS detainees is critical to preventing any escapes that could pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security.
Cooper added that US and partner forces detained more than 300 Islamic State members in Syria in 2025 and killed more than 20 others during the same period.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in al-Hasakah reported that US aircraft returned to al-Sinaa Prison (Ghwayran, at the southern entrance of Hasakah city) this evening, after he had previously reported that two US aircraft landed at the facility and took off twice since Wednesday morning.
The correspondent confirmed that three evening batches of US aircraft had arrived by the time of publication, each batch including two personnel carriers.
Ghwayran Prison holds thousands of Islamic State detainees and is located in an area under tight security measures by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the International Coalition.
Field developments in al-Hasakah
The US move comes as al-Hasakah governorate experiences military polarization and a cautious calm, a day after the Syrian Presidency announced a four-day deadline to implement the terms of an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the city’s future and the mechanism for the SDF’s integration into state institutions.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in al-Hasakah said the past hours have seen changes in the map of control in the eastern countryside, as the Syrian army established full control over al-Hol town and camp (eastern al-Hasakah countryside, northeastern Syria), amid a heavy deployment by government Internal Security forces around the camp to secure it.
Military units then moved north, taking control of the towns of Tal Hamis (northeastern al-Hasakah governorate) and al-Yarubiyah (northeastern al-Hasakah governorate, on the Syria-Iraq border), reaching the official border crossing with Iraq. The border area has, for the first time in years, come under Damascus’ authority.
The correspondent added that, before the agreement was announced, the Syrian army took control of the villages of Qana, al-Karama, and al-Khamayil, then seized the Milaybiyah regiment in the southern al-Hasakah countryside. Military reinforcements have continued in the area, several kilometers from Hasakah’s southern entrance.
The army also advanced in the western countryside, taking control of several villages in Mount Abdul Aziz (western al-Hasakah governorate).
The correspondent reported SDF reinforcements inside neighborhoods of Hasakah city, amid heightened alert and a tightened siege on the neighborhoods of Ghwayran, al-Nashwa, and al-Zuhour.
He said the city is facing difficult humanitarian conditions due to a severe shortage of bread and water, and widespread fear and anxiety among civilians over the possibility that Hasakah could turn into a direct battleground once the four-day deadline expires, especially given the heavy deployment of military vehicles and the presence of trenches inside residential areas.
The United States begins transferring Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq Enab Baladi.
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