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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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December 20, 2018
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Kurdish-led
Group Reportedly Considers Releasing ISIS Prisoners
by John Rossomando • Dec 20, 2018
at 5:46 pm
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An immediate fallout from President Trump's decision to withdraw all
U.S. forces from Syria could be the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
releasing 3,200 ISIS prisoners in its custody.
Turkey views SDF units as terrorists due to their connection with the Marxist Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), which has waged a four-decade war for autonomy from Ankara in
eastern Turkey. The People's Protection Units (YPG) that dominate the SDF
forces have historical and ideological ties with the PKK. The SDF is not an
exclusively Kurdish group and includes Arab and Christian units.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans last week to invade areas of Syria east
of the Euphrates River controlled by the SDF.
SDF leaders deny having any interest in Turkish territory and say they
only are interested in building a multi-ethnic, non-sectarian government in
eastern Syria.
Maps of the alleged
planned invasion zone have circulated on Twitter in the past two days
showing that the Turks plan to seize a strip of land along the border. That
would create a buffer zone between Turkey and the rest of eastern Syria.
The presence of U.S. forces has acted as a deterrent for Erdogan's stated
desire to invade the Kurdish held parts of Syria.
If that happens, the SDF plans to shift its forces away from fighting
ISIS to confront the Turkish onslaught. The SDF believes it would need all
of its fighters in the event of a Turkish invasion, which the American
withdrawal makes more likely, the New York Times reported.
SDF leaders have discussed the possibility of releasing ISIS prisoners
and their families who it had detained, the London-based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights (SOHR) said. SOHR data shows that of the 3,200 ISIS members
being held, approximately 2,080 are women and children from 44 different
nationalities. About 1,100 foreign fighters from 31 nationalities currently
are detained by SDF forces. The so-called "Beatles" ISIS terrorists, who were
responsible for murdering Western hostages, are among the most dangerous
terrorists in SDF's custody.
An SDF spokesman denied
his group has talked about releasing ISIS prisoners, but the Times
reported that a coalition source confirmed that the idea has been
considered.
"The best result of terrible options is probably for the Syrian
regime to take custody of these people," the source told the Times.
"If they are released, it's a real disaster and major threat to
Europe."
SDF leaders have complained about their ability to act indefinitely as
jailers and about the West's refusal to accept responsibility for the
foreign fighters.
These developments come as SDF forces are finishing up mopping up the
last ISIS enclave in Eastern Syria in the town of Hajin.
Such a move could revive the dying ISIS insurgency, the Kurdish news
service Rudaw warned. Most of all it could be the Kurds' attempt at
finding a bargaining chip to use to convince the president to keep the U.S.
troops in Syria.
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