WASHINGTON: The United States launched an operation on Wednesday that could ultimately transfer up to 7,000 detainees allegedly affiliated with the militant Islamic State (IS) group from Syria to neighbouring Iraq, the US military said.

The aim of the operation — which began with the movement of 150 alleged fighters — is to ensure the people “remain in secure detention facilities,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on X.

“We are closely coordinating with regional partners, including the Iraqi government,” the post quoted CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper as saying. “Facilitating the orderly and secure transfer of ISIS detainees is critical to preventing a breakout that would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security,” Cooper added, using an alternate acronym for IS.

In a deal reached on Sunday that included a ceasefire and the integration of ethnic Kurds’ administration into the state, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi agreed that the government would take over responsibility for prisoners accused of being part of IS.

Seven soldiers killed in a drone attack by Kurdish forces, says Damascus

Thousands of detainees are held in seven prisons in northeast Syria, while tens of thousands of people thought to be their family members live in the Al-Hol and Roj camps.

The United States, which heads an international coalition that backed the Kurds against IS, said this week that the purpose of its alliance with the SDF had largely ended years after they defeated the armed group.

Washington now supports Syria’s new Islamist political authorities — once commanders affiliated with the Al Qaeda armed group themselves — who are seeking to extend their control across the country after years of civil war.

Kurds accused of breaking truce

Syria’s government said a drone strike by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces killed seven of its soldiers on Wednesday, though the SDF denied this, in an incident that threatens to derail a ceasefire after days of fighting in the northeast.

The Syrian army called the attack, which it said took place as soldiers were securing a captured military base containing explosives, a dangerous escalation.

The SDF, previously the main US ally in Syria, said it had not carried out a strike and that the blast had occurred when Syrian soldiers were moving explosives. It accused the Syrian army of violating the truce with attacks in several locations.

After days of rapid gains, the government on Tuesday said it had reached an understanding with the SDF for it to agree a plan over a four-day ceasefire to integrate into the central state, and that otherwise the SDF would face an assault on the two last main cities it holds.

The government advance against the SDF has put into doubt years of Kurdish de facto autonomy in the northeast and is significant for Syria’s ties with the United States and Turkiye, and for the fate of thousands of detained Islamist militants.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, a main ally of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, said on Wednesday that the SDF, which it regards as a terrorist group, must lay down arms and disband now to avoid further bloodshed.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2026