BAGHDAD – Iraqi security forces are interrogating suspected Islamic State militants transferred from Syria at Al-Karkh Central Prison in western Baghdad, a facility formerly known as Camp Cooper, according to officials and images released Thursday.
The transfers, which began several weeks ago, involve more than 5,000 detainees from 60 different nationalities, escorted by the U.S. Military, according to the Associated Press. The move is intended to address concerns that ongoing conflict in Syria could allow IS prisoners to escape detention camps and rejoin militant groups operating in Iraq and Syria.
Iraq’s judicial authorities have begun investigating 1,387 of the transferred militants, a Baghdad court stated on Monday, February 2nd. The investigation is being overseen by the Chief of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, and led by specialist judges in anti-terrorism courts. The court said the procedures are part of Iraq’s efforts to investigate IS members “in line with national laws, with international co-ordination,” and address crimes amounting to genocide and crimes against humanity.
Baghdad anticipates receiving over 7,000 IS detainees from Syria, facilitated by cooperation between Iraq, the U.S., and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had been holding approximately 10,000 IS detainees and their relatives in northeast Syria. The SDF had managed detention centers in the region.
Iraqi Judge Ali Hussein Jafat, leading the interrogation committee, described the process as “complicated and not easy at all,” given the large number of prisoners and their diverse nationalities – originating from 14 Arab countries and 46 others. Many of the detainees are reported to be suffering from respiratory diseases, prompting the establishment of a medical center within the prison complex.
To accommodate the influx of new prisoners, thousands of long-term inmates at Al-Karkh have been transferred to other prisons throughout Iraq. The Iraqi government is preparing to put some of the detainees on trial, having been held for years in Syria without formal charges or access to the judicial system.
The detainees are expected to be held primarily in Nasiriyah Prison in Dhi Qar province and Karkh Prison near Baghdad Airport, with a smaller number held in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan region. Iraqi courts have already issued hundreds of death sentences and life terms to individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses, including foreign fighters. Human rights groups have raised concerns regarding the speed of some trials and due process.
The U.S. Military is continuing to transfer detainees from Syria to Iraq, with the process ongoing as of February 12, 2026.
