Trump wants Europe to take Daesh captives in Syria

“The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them,” Trump tweeted on Saturday, using an acronym for Daesh.

“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 follow-up tweet.

The US and a number of its allies have been in Syria without Damascus’ permission since 2014 under the pretext of fighting the Takfiri Daesh terror group. Last month, Trump declared victory over Daesh, and announced that he would withdraw the roughly 2,000 American troops from the Arab country.

This is while the military victory over Daesh in Syria as well as in neighboring Iraq came as a result of operations by the militaries of the two Arab countries and advisory military assistance from their regional allies. US commanders have also described Trump’s declaration of complete victory over Daesh as premature.

Reports showed last year that more than 5,000 Europeans — mostly from Britain, France, Germany, and Belgium — had joined Daesh’s ranks since 2014, when the group emerged in Syria and Iraq.

The outfit has already conducted horrific attacks in Europe, including in locations in and around Paris in November 2015 which killed 130 people.

Also on Saturday, Britain’s Justice Secretary David Gauke warned of the “risks” of people returning after voluntarily going to “dangerous parts of the world,” an apparent reference to the European members of Daesh.

He said, however, “We can’t make people stateless.”