Turkey starts sending Islamic State fighters back to home countries

2019-11-11 18:31:00

Turkey says it has sent back to the US an American belonging to the Islamic State (IS) group, as part of a drive to repatriate captured jihadist fighters. The interior ministry said 20 IS fighters from Germany, France, Ireland and Denmark were also being expelled. Turkey wants to repatriate some 2,500 militants - most to EU countries - state broadcaster TRT Haber said. Turkey's president said 7,600 people from 102 countries held in the fight against IS had already been deported. What happens to foreign IS fighters has been a key question since the defeat of the group in territory it controlled in Syria and Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that some 2,500 foreign IS fighters are in prison in Turkey. European countries have been reluctant to allow back nationals who went to fight for IS.