UNITED STATES: Trump tells European countries to take back IS fighters

President Trump has told the UK and other European allies to take back and put on trial more than 800 Islamic State (IS) group fighters captured in the final battle against the group. His tweet comes as US-backed Kurdish forces continue an assault on the last pocket of IS territory on the Syrian side of […]

President Trump has told the UK and other European allies to take back and put on trial more than 800 Islamic State (IS) group fighters captured in the final battle against the group.

His tweet comes as US-backed Kurdish forces continue an assault on the last pocket of IS territory on the Syrian side of the Iraqi border.

The IS fighters are being held by the Kurdish-led forces.

Mr Trump added that the IS caliphate was “ready to fall.”

“The US does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go. We do so much, and spend so much – Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing,” he said in a tweet.

Otherwise, he said, the US would be forced to release them. Trump administration officials have also told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that they fear some of the detained fighters would put European countries at risk unless they are brought to justice.