France: 9 children among returned citizens who fled Syria

PARIS – A dozen French citizens – nine of them children – who fled the Syria-Iraq war zone have been transferred back to France.

Two French officials said the children and “three jihadis” were discreetly brought to Paris on Tuesday after being arrested in Turkey.

The officials were confirming a report on French television channel BFMTV. They requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

French intelligence investigators were questioning the adults, who included the children’s father and one mother.

The officials provided neither the children’s ages nor where they were taken.

The transfers followed the repatriation to Europe of 12 French and two Dutch orphans handed over Sunday by Kurdish authorities in Syria.

France and other European nations are concerned over battle-hardened returnees from territory once controlled by the Islamic State group.