US begins transferring ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq amid security transition

A view of al-Hol camp, where families linked to the Islamic State group are being held, in Hasakah, Syria, Wednesday, Jan.21, 2026.(Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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The announcement comes one day after Tom Barrack, U.S.ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, saidDamascus is preparedto assume security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps.

The State Department said in a2025 reportto Congress that roughly 8,400 ISIS-affiliated detainees from more than 70 countries are being held in detention facilities run by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the largest of which is the al-Hol camp.

Barrack helped broker a fragile four-day ceasefire agreement Tuesday between the new interim Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the Kurdish-led SDF, after escalating clashes threatened to spiral further.

The U.S.official said theTrump administrationdoes not seek a long-term military presence in Syria, emphasizing the need instead for a continued focus on defeating remaining ISIS elements.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with U.S.Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack in Damascus, Sunday, Jan.18, 2026.(Syrian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The deal integrates SDF fighters into the national military (as individuals, which remains among the most contentious issues), hand over key infrastructure (oil fields, dams, border crossings), and cede control of ISIS prisons and camps to Damascus,” Barrack wrote on X.

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“This creates a unique window for the Kurds: integration into the newSyrian stateoffers full citizenship rights (including for those previously stateless), recognition as an integral part of Syria, constitutional protections for Kurdish language and culture (e.g., teaching in Kurdish, celebrating Nawruz as a national holiday), and participation in governance—far beyond the semi-autonomy the SDF held amid civil war chaos,” he added.

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ISIS SOLDIERS BEHEAD CHRISTIANS IN MOZAMBIQUE, BURNING CHURCH AND HOMES: ‘SILENT GENOCIDE’

Hol Camp, where families linked to the Islamic State group are being held, in Hasakah, Syria, Wednesday, Jan.21, 2026.(Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Syria’s Ministry of Interior said Monday that security forces had recaptured 81 of the 120ISIS prisoners who escapedfrom the al-Shaddadi prison in the Hasakah countryside and were continuing efforts to track down the remaining escapees.

The interim government and the SDF have since traded blame over responsibility for the escape, which occurred amid heightened tensions over security arrangements in the region.