About 3,000 ISIS detainees have so far been transferred from Syrian prisons to Iraq and the process is continuing, Iraq’s foreign minister said on Friday, adding that Baghdad was in discussions with some countries to repatriate them soon.

Axar.az informs speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Fuad Hussein said Baghdad would need more financial assistance to deal with the influx, and was worried about a rise in ISIS activity just over the border in Syria.

ISIS swept through large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before it was driven out by a US-led coalition by 2019, and many of its fighters were detained, although remnants of the militant group remain.

“I think around 3,000 have already been transferred into Iraqi prisons. So the process started and we are continuing that process,” said Hussein.