Iraq Court Sentences Four to Death for Joining ISIS

A fighter with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US ally in the fight against ISIS, holds a sniper rifle on his shoulder as he attends the funeral of a slain Kurdish commander in Qamishli, Syria, on Dec. 6, 2018. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

BAGHDAD—An Iraqi court has sentenced four people to death by hanging for belonging to the ISIS terrorist group and committing terrorist crimes in Iraq and Syria, a judiciary statement said on Sunday, April 21.

The four men, wanted by Iraqi authorities, were handed to Iraq by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the statement said.

A Baghdad criminal court convicted them for joining ISIS and “carrying out criminal operations that targeted innocent civilians with the aim of undermining peace and stability in Iraq and Syria.”

A judicial source said the four men were Iraqi.

In February, Iraq’s military said the SDF had handed 280 Iraqi and foreign detainees to Baghdad.

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand together near the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria, on March 1, 2019. Rodi Said/Reuters

Thousands of foreigners have fought on behalf of ISIS in Iraq and Syria since at least 2014. Many foreign women came—or were brought—from overseas to join the terrorists.

Iraqi courts are relying on counter-terrorism laws to prosecute thousands of suspects, including foreigners, for joining the ultra-hardline jihadist group.

ISIS captured a third of Iraq in 2014 but was largely defeated both there and in neighboring Syria where U.S.-backed forces proclaimed last month the capture of ISIS last territory, eliminating its rule over a self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

Women and children evacuated from the ISIS terrorist state group's embattled holdout of Baghouz arrive at a screening area held by the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor, on March 6, 2019. Bulent KILIC/AFP

Bosnia Detains ISIS Fighter From Syria

A Bosnian national suspected of fighting for ISIS in Syria has been transferred to Bosnia and put in detention, Bosnia’s prosecutor’s office said on Saturday, April 20.

After the collapse of the ISIS self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq, countries around the world are wrestling with how to handle militants and their families seeking to return.

“I.C, 24, is suspected for criminal acts of organizing a terrorist group, illegal formation and of joining foreign paramilitary or para-police formations, and terrorism,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Bosnia’s state court has tried and convicted 46 people who have returned from Syria or Iraq in the past few years.

Local media identified the man as Ibro Cufurovic from the northwestern town of Velika Kladusa who, along with Armin Curt, 22, from Sarajevo, had been detained by the Kurdish militia more than a year ago.

The prosecution outlined the assistance of the United States in bringing the man back. The United States is the ally of the Kurdish militia operating in northern Syria.

A U.S. army vehicle supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hajin, in the Deir Ezzor province, eastern Syria, on Dec. 15, 2018. Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

According to Bosnian intelligence, 241 adults and 80 children left Bosnia or the Bosnian diaspora in 2012-2016 for Syria and Iraq, where 150 more children were born. About 100 adults, including 49 women, remained there while at least 88 have been killed or died.

Several women with children, including the Cufurovic’s wife, have pleaded with the Bosnian authorities to be allowed to return home but there is still no clear policy in place on how to deal with them because their children do not hold Bosnian citizenship.

Also on Saturday, another Balkan state, Kosovo, brought back 110 of its citizens from Syria including fighters and 74 children.

By Ahmed Rasheed and Daria Sito-Sucic