Biodun.BBC: Syria war: Seized foreign IS fighters 'must be taken home'

A suspected IS member (centre) carrying her baby is escorted into a vehicle in Syria's north-eastern city of Qamishli, after she was handed over to Sudanese diplomats by Kurdish officials. Photo: 20 September 2018 — Image captionA suspected IS member and her baby were handed over to Sudanese diplomats in north-eastern Syria on Thursday, reports say

by Nasra Ismail and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Beirut

Captured foreign Islamic State militants must be taken back by their home countries, the Kurdish-led forces in north-eastern Syria have said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it would not put them on trial themselves and lacked the resources to hold them indefinitely.

The SDF, which controls the region, say they hold about 500 jihadists, and hundreds of their wives and children.

The captured IS fighters are reported to be from dozens of countries.

States that the IS jihadists came from have proven to be reluctant to take these dangerous men back, the BBC's Middle East analyst, Alan Johnston, says.

IS militants seized large areas in Syria and Iraq in 2014 - but have seen been driven out from most the captured territory.

The SDF is being backed by the US-led coalition.

On Thursday, Kurdish foreign affairs official Abdel Karim Omar said that "around 520 Daesh [IS] mercenaries, as well as 550 women and around 1,200 children from 44 countries" were in the SDF's custody, AFP news agency reports.

"It's a heavy burden that we can't carry alone.

"We will not try any IS fighter... We are trying as much as possible... to pressure governments to carry out their duties and take their citizens back."

Media captionRicardo Vilanova was held captive by Islamic State militants in Syria

Kurdish officials in north-eastern Syria handed over a Sudanese woman and her one-month-old baby to a Sudanese diplomat on Thursday in the city of Qamishli, AFP says.

The woman was accused of being an IS member.