Conflicts & War

Blinken: detainment of 10,000 IS fighters in Syria can’t persist indefinitely

Rome, Jun 28 (EFE).- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged countries to repatriate, rehabilitate and prosecute citizens who fought with the Islamic State in Syria, as continuing to hold 10,000 IS fighters in detainment camps run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces is “untenable”.

“It just can’t persist indefinitely,” said Blinken ahead of a meeting in Rome that will gather members of the global coalition fighting the Islamist militia.

Apart from that issue, he celebrated the progress in the fight against IS, with significant results that show the efficiency of international cooperation.

Blinken stressed the importance of continuing to fight remaining IS-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, to prevent the organization from regaining its grip in both countries or in offshoots in Africa.

His Italian counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, proposed setting up a working group dedicated to Africa, which would also integrate states that are willing to participate from the continent, where terrorist groups associated with IS are continuing to expand, especially in the Sahel region.

Di Maio welcomed guest observers Ghana, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, all of whom face active terrorist activity within their borders.

“Daesh (the acronym for IS in Arabic) has been defeated in its territorial dimension, but it has not been eradicated,” said the Italian foreign minister. EFE

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