In this Saturday, Sept. 9, 2017 image made from video, a woman and a small child lie on the floor of a tent in a camp for displaced people on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. Over 1,300 women and children, all foreign nationals and relatives of Islamic State militants, are kept in this camp after they surrendered to Kurdish peshmerga forces at the end of August, Iraqi security officials said. (AP Photo/Balint Szlanko)

Iraq holding hundreds of foreign IS family members

MOSUL, Iraq – Iraqi officials say they are holding more than 1,300 foreign women and children, the families of Islamic State fighters, at a camp for displaced people in northern Iraq.

They said Sunday that the 1,333 individuals, from 14 countries, surrendered to Kurdish forces at the end of August after Iraqi forces drove the extremist group from the northern town of Tal Afar, near Mosul.

The military officials spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with military protocol.

They say the women and children will not be charged with crimes and will likely be repatriated to their home countries. Most hail from Central Asia, Russia and Turkey.

Tens of thousands of foreigners travelled to Iraq and Syria to live in the IS group’s self-styled Islamic caliphate.

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Abbey Westbury

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