ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq has finished the initial investigations of 1,000 Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners with rulings still pending in their cases, an official said Thursday, after some 5,700 suspected members of the group were transferred from Syria.

Iraq agreed to take in ISIS prisoners from its neighbor in coordination with Washington after turmoil triggered by a January Syrian government offensive in Rojava (northeast Syria) raised fears that detention centers, previously operated by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), would be unable to maintain security amid the conflict.

“The terrorist elements are still being interrogated, and 1,000 of them have been investigated, and no judicial rulings have been issued against them,” Iraqi justice ministry spokesperson Ahmed Laibi told state media.

He said the ministry may sign Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with countries wishing to repatriate their nationals after sentences are issued, “with the exception of prisoners who have been sentenced to death,” with a capital sentence requiring ratification by the Iraqi president.

According to the Supreme Judicial Council in February, the transferred prisoners come from 61 different nationalities.

January’s violent offensive by the Syrian Arab Army on Rojava presented a major threat of ISIS members taking advantage of the security vacuum to escape facilities.

The ongoing US-Israel war with Iran also poses risks for the prison in Baghdad where the detainees are currently kept.

The al-Karkh prison, where the transferred prisoners are being held, is near the Baghdad International Airport, which houses the Camp Victory base, an American diplomatic facility that has been repeatedly targeted by drone strikes since the outbreak of the US and Israeli war on Iran in late February. 

Last month, Iraq’s National Security Advisory warned against the recurrence of attacks near Baghdad airport, as they pose a “direct” threat to the high-security prison.

The ISIS members “are currently being held in al-Karkh Central Prison and will not be transferred to another location at the present time,” Laibi said, adding that the prison has been secured through security cordons by the counter-terrorism forces and correctional facility personnel.