US President Donald Trump has urged European nations to repatriate and prosecute jihadists from their countries who were captured in Syria. Otherwise, he warned, the US could release the terrorists to “permeate Europe.”
“The Caliphate is ready to fall,” Trump tweeted. “The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them…”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1096980408401625088
….The U.S. does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go. We do so much, and spend so much – Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019
The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say they are close to the “final defeat” of IS, having reduced their territory to a small final stronghold. Trump recently announced that he would pull US troops out of Syria, but has not yet set any deadlines.
According to UN figures, up to 42,000 foreign fighters traveled to Iraq and Syria to join IS, including around 900 from Germany and 850 from Britain.
In December, the Washington Post reported that authorities in SDF-controlled areas don’t want “responsibility” for guarding and feeding imprisoned militants, and they “lack the capacity” to stage trials for them. Local officials told reporters that 900 male fighters from 44 nations are kept in prisons that the US forces help to maintain.