US military starts transferring ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — U.S. Airmen perform maintenance and system checks on a C-17 Globemaster III, June 25, 2014, at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Dennis Sloan)

WASHINGTON/CAIRO  -  The U.S. military said on Wednesday that its forces have transferred 150 Islamic State detainees from Syria to Iraq.

The move comes after the rapid collapse of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria triggered uncertainty over the security of around a dozen prisons and detention camps they had been guarding.

In a statement, the U.S. military said the United States was able to transport 150 Islamic State fighters held at a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq.

Ultimately, up to 7,000 ISIS detainees could be transferred from Syria to Iraqi-controlled facilities, the statement added.

"We are closely coordinating with regional partners, including the Iraqi government, and we sincerely appreciate their role in ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS," said U.S. Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Syria on Tuesday announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces from which it has seized swathes of territory in the northeast and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state, which their main ally, the United States, urged them to accept.

The lightning government advances in recent days and the apparent withdrawal of U.S. support for SDF's continued holding of territory represent the biggest change of control in the country since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad 13 months ago.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart,Jaidaa Taha and Yomna Ehab; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Rod Nickel // REUTERS)