Morocco is preparing to repatriate nationals who joined Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, officials said.
The United States began transferring detained IS members from Syria to Iraq in January after the Kurdish-led SDF collapsed.
Around a dozen facilities had held foreign fighters and affiliated civilians, including women and children, under the SDF’s previous control.
Last month, the U.S. military completed its mission in Syria, moving 5,700 adult male IS detainees into Iraqi custody.
Iraq has since urged Muslim and Western countries to repatriate their nationals detained in Iraqi prisons and SDF camps.
A Moroccan security official said authorities are developing a plan for fighters, women, and children affected by these transfers.
Morocco had 1,667 citizens fighting in Syria and Iraq, including 244 currently held in SDF-controlled prisons in northeastern Syria.
So far, 279 fighters have returned home, while 269 women and 627 minors remain in conflict zones or camps.
SDF-run camps in northeastern Syria hold 134 women and 354 children, with 125 women already repatriated since the Syrian crisis began.
Morocco previously repatriated eight SDF-held fighters in 2019, who now serve 13-to-18-year sentences on terrorism charges domestically.
Joining terror groups abroad carries a maximum sentence of 10 years under Moroccan law, officials confirmed to Reuters.
The BCIJ counter-terrorism agency reported more than 130 Moroccans joined IS branches in Africa in recent years.
Since 2015, the BCIJ has dismantled dozens of militant cells and arrested over 1,000 suspected militants nationwide.