20:38, 10 March 2021

Azerbaijani authorities report on return of over 200 children from Iraq

In two years, 248 children have been returned to Azerbaijan from Iraq, the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers has reported. After rehabilitation, they were handed over to their relatives.

As specified, the process of returning minors from Iraq began in 2017, when the Azerbaijani Embassy handed over to local Iraqi authorities a list of citizens who could be among the militants taken prisoner of war (POWs) after the liberation of Mosul from radical Islamists. The list also contained names of alleged militants' wives and their children, the "Sputnik-Azerbaijan" informs.

The "Caucasian Knot" has repeatedly reported about the return of children from Syria and Iraq to the regions of Russia. In early February, five children were returned from Syria and handed over to their relatives in Chechnya.

According to various sources, there are hundreds or even thousands of children from Dagestan, Chechnya and other regions of the Caucasus in the Middle East. Their lives and health are in particular danger after the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court, began suffering large-scale defeats.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 10, 2021 at 05:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.