The U.S. military has begun a mission to transfer up to 7,000 Islamic State (IS) group fighters from detention facilities in north-eastern Syria to Iraq. This operation occurs as Syrian government forces gain control of areas previously held by Kurdish-led forces.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that 150 IS fighters have already been moved from Hassakeh province to a secure location in Iraq. The command stated that the initiative aims to prevent a potential breakout that "would pose a direct threat to the United States and regional security."
Concurrently, Syria's government announced a new ceasefire agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). This agreement followed the SDF's withdrawal from al-Hol camp, which houses thousands of relatives of IS fighters.
In a separate incident, Syria's defense ministry reported the deaths of seven soldiers in a drone attack attributed to Kurdish forces in the Hasakah province. Both the government and the SDF had previously attributed blame to each other concerning the escape of suspected IS fighters from an SDF-managed prison in Shaddadi, located in southern Hassakeh.