During the summit against the self-styled Islamic State on June 8 in Riyadh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior Saudi Arabian officials called on Western governments to repatriate their citizens who joined the ranks of the terror group in Iraq and Syria, where thousands still remain in prisons or camps. In addition, Washington announced 150 million dollars in aid for areas liberated from the extremist movement.
First modification:
The “caliphate”, which the Islamic State (IS) proclaimed in fringes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, was declared defeated in 2019 after counter-offensives by Western armies accompanied by local troops in both Iraq and Syria.
Now, nearly four years later, thousands of foreigners who joined the radical Islamist group and their families remain held in detention centers and informal camps, as top US military commanders warn they could fuel a revival of the terror group.
This concern was the focus of the call by the governments of Saudi Arabia this Thursday, June 8, during the summit against the extremist movement, which took place in the Saudi capital. Both Washington and Riyadh asked the Western countries from which the detained jihadists come from to repatriate them to their respective territories.
“If foreign terrorist fighters are not repatriated, there is a risk that they could once again take up arms and attempt to restore ISIS’s so-called caliphate, terrorize the communities we are working to stabilize and rebuild, and potentially threaten our homelands. ”, said the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during the meeting.
For his part, Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan stressed that it is “disheartening and absolutely unacceptable” that some developed nations have not brought back their citizens who joined the ranks of the movement that caused terror in the last years.
“Those countries must step up, they must take responsibility,” bin Farhan stressed.
The self-styled Islamic State, also known as ISIS for its acronym in English, managed to attract thousands of Western citizens to its ranks and the Al-Hol camp in Syria alone is home to 10,000 foreigners, including relatives of those who multiplied the atrocities as executions, torture, beheadings and rape as they invaded Muslim and non-Muslim areas.
The danger is still latent. And it is that, despite their territorial defeat, some IS militants continue to carry out attacks against civilians and security forces in both Iraq and Syria.
The highest representative of US diplomacy applauded some nations like Canada that have repatriated their citizens who belonged to the extremist movement, but stressed that, despite repeated calls, most governments have only transferred a small handful of those individuals.
Blinken announces $150 million for IS liberated areas in Iraq and Syria
Poor security, humanitarian and economic conditions are a breeding ground for a possible mass resurgence of extremists in areas that have already been liberated, Blinken acknowledged.
As part of the efforts to stop it, the representative of the Government of Joe Biden announced at the summit 150 million dollars in aid for those territories that were liberated.
“We are as committed to our stabilization goals as we were to our military campaign that resulted in battlefield victory. Therefore, today we are announcing a funding goal for stabilization of $601 million. And the United States commits $148.7 million to that fund,” Blinken confirmed.
Last April, the US-led coalition reported that since the beginning of the year the terrorist group’s attacks in Iraq have been reduced by 68%, while Syria experienced a 55% decrease during the same period.
However, the United Nations estimates that the radical movement still has between 5,000 and 7,000 loyalists in the two countries, about half of whom are combatants. Undoubtedly a risk in the face of which the West tries not to lower its guard.
With AFP and AP
#Saudi #Arabia #urge #repatriation #foreign #jihadists #Iraq #Syria