Kurdish-led authorities in northeastern Syria have facilitated the repatriation of 50 women and children, who are family members of Islamic State militants, back to Tajikistan. The group, consisting of 17 women and 33 children, all Tajik citizens, was handed over to a delegation led by the Tajik ambassador to Kuwait, Zubaydullo Zubaydzoda.
Following the establishment of the Islamic State caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014, many foreigners, including hundreds from Tajikistan, traveled to Syria to join IS and reside with their families in the self-proclaimed caliphate. After the defeat of IS, most of the militants' family members were housed in the al-Hol camp and the Roj camp in northeastern Syria.
The Syrian Arab Red Crescent assisted in transporting the women and children to the Qamishli airport, from where they departed for Tajikistan to reunite with their families. This repatriation effort comes in the wake of a tragic attack on a Moscow concert hall, where 144 individuals lost their lives. The perpetrators, identified as Tajik nationals, were apprehended, and IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
Over the years, thousands of individuals, primarily Iraqis, have been repatriated from the al-Hol camp, which predominantly houses IS militants' wives, children, and supporters. The camp, once accommodating 73,000 people, now hosts around 43,000 residents, as reported by Sheikhmous Ahmad, a Kurdish official overseeing displaced persons camps in northeastern Syria.
Tajikistan has acknowledged that during the peak of IS activity, over 1,000 fighters from the country joined extremist groups in Syria and Iraq, including IS. Notably, Gulmurod Khalimov, a former officer in Tajikistan's special forces, defected to IS in 2015 and rose to a prominent military position within the organization. In 2017, Khalimov was reportedly killed in a Russian airstrike in Syria's Deir el-Zour province.
This recent repatriation of Tajik citizens is not the first instance. In May last year, 104 Tajik nationals, comprising 31 women and 73 children, were also repatriated. Additionally, in the preceding year, 146 women and children from Tajikistan were successfully brought back to their home country.
