Iraq deports 33 'Daesh children' to Russia
Iraq says deported children were born to Russian women
BAGHDAD
Iraq has handed over 33 Russian children of suspected Daesh militants to Russia, according to the country's Foreign Ministry on Monday.
The children born to Russian women were sent back to Russia last week in coordination with the Russian Embassy in Baghdad, ministry spokesman Ahmed Sahaf said in a statement.
He said Iraqi authorities have already deported 473 children of foreign members of the Daesh terrorist group to their home countries.
In March, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Iraqi authorities of arbitrarily arresting and torturing hundreds of children suspected of Daesh affiliation.
The rights group said some 2,000 children and 1,000 women from 46 nationalities were being held in prisons in Iraq and Libya as well as three camps in northeastern Syria due to their family ties with members or suspected of being members of Daash.
Shortly after its sudden appearance in mid-2014, the notorious terrorist group overran vast swathes of territory in northern Syria and northern and western Iraq.
In late 2017, Baghdad declared victory over Daesh following a three-year war that ended with the fall of Mosul, the group’s last remaining stronghold in Iraq.
