France is working to bring back young held by Syrian Kurdish forces and belonging to suspected French Islamist militants, but will leave their mothers to be prosecuted by local authorities, French officials said.

France, like other European nations, has been wrestling with how to handle suspected militants and their families seeking to return from combat zones in Iraq and Syria, as well as those in detention, after Islamic State surrendered huge swathes of territory under military pressure.

Islamic State has suffered a series of deadly militant attacks over the past three years and is grappling with the threat of homegrown militancy as well as the risks posed by fighters slipping back across French borders.

While government policy has been to refuse to take back fighters and their wives, France has said it needed to determine the situation of minors.

Some 60 women, including 40 mothers with about 150 minors, have been reported in Syria by families in France. The large majority of the children are under the age of six.

After cross-checking information with Kurdish authorities and the International Red Cross, Paris has located a number of them in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria.

Preparations are being put into place to repatriate children on a case-by-case basis, including those born in Syria, the officials said. Their return would depend on mothers agreeing to be separated from their children.

“It is in the best interest of the children,” said one of the officials.

Paris is concerned that if these minors are left in Syria, they could eventually also become militants.

The first children could return by year’s end, although the complexity of the situation may push the timeline.

France in December 2017 repatriated three children belonging to a French woman who was sentenced in June by an Iraqi court to life imprisonment for her allegiance to Islamic State.

She kept her youngest child with her in detention in Iraq.

That case was easier for France given Baghdad has a functioning legal system unlike in Kurdish northern Syria, which is outside the control of the Syrian government.

Figures for the number of French Islamist fighters in the Levant region have varied between 500 and 700 over the years.

Authorities estimate there are about 100 in the rebel-held northeastern bastion of Idlib and dozens in the last Islamic State pocket near the Iraqi border.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has claimed that French security services have foiled at least five serious terror plots in the last year including one linked to Iran.

Mr Castaner, who was appointed Interior Minister by President Emmanuel Macron earlier this month following the resignation of former minister Gerard Collomb, said that despite foiling the attacks, the terror threat to France remains high, Le Journal du Dimanche reports.

Several factors keep the threat of terror high including the number of returning jihadis from the Middle East.

“Some must be followed as a priority: those with psychological vulnerabilities, those who could have firearms, the ‘ghosts’ of Iraq or Syria – which represents 261 adults identified in France,” Castaner said.

“There are also the 700 French people who are still in the zone, particularly in Idlib, whose attempts to return are to be monitored, and those who have been convicted in cases related to a risk of terrorism or who have become radicalised in prison and who will be coming out soon,” he added.

According to Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet, around 50 Islamist terrorists and 450 radicalised Islamists could be set free from prison by the end of 2019.

In 2016, Belgian politician and European Union (EU) ‘Counter-Terrorism Coordinator” Gilles de Kerchove warned of radicalisation in prisons arguing that returning Islamic State fighters who had not killed anyone should not be sent to prisons where they could be further radicalised.

Upon leaving his post, former Interior Minister Collomb speculated over a future civil conflict in migrant-populated ghettos like Paris’s notorious Seine-Saint-Denis suburbs, saying the French would not live side by side but “face to face”.

When asked his opinion on his predecessor’s comments, Castaner said: “Gerard Collomb said this well before resigning and he is right: there is a situation of extreme tension and great violence in certain neighbourhoods.”

“Wherever we see the Republic recedes, we must act. Reclaim, square metre by square metre, republican sovereignty. It will be a fight,” he added.

A senior US military commander has called on the UK to take back two Islamic State terrorists suspected of involvement in a series of beheadings, like reported by metro.co.uk.

El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are said to have been members of a brutal four-man cell of IS executioners in Syria and Iraq. Nicknamed The Beatles because of their British accents, the group are alleged to have been responsible for killing a number of high-profile Western captives.

Major General Patrick Roberson, commander of US special ops, called on the UK to take back Islamic State fighters. When asked whether Elsheik and Kotey should be repatriated to the UK, Roberson told the BBC: ‘We would certainly like them to be.’

He said the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US were ‘working very hard to make sure that the countries of origin get these foreign terrorist fighters back into their custody’. He added that it was a decision for each country involved, but said: ‘I think the SDF and us would certainly like them to be repatriated to where they came from.’ Kotey and Elsheikh are accused of belonging to the cell which also included Mohammed Emwazi – known as ‘Jihadi John’ – who was killed in a US air strike in 2015, and Aine Davis, who has been jailed in Turkey.

The group is suspected of involvement in the beheading of 27 people, including British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and US citizens James Foley, Steven Sotloff and Peter Kassig. Emwazi was filmed carrying out a number of the murders and the videos were broadcast online.

Kotey and Elsheikh, who were raised in the UK, are believed to have been detained by Kurdish forces in Syria in January and have been stripped of their British citizenship. They may face a federal trial in the US after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided there was ‘insufficient evidence’ for them to be tried in the UK. Elsheikh’s mother Maha Elgizouli has mounted a High Court challenge over the UK’s sharing of evidence with US authorities under a ‘mutual legal assistance’ (MLA) agreement.

She says it was ‘unlawful’ for the Government to do so without obtaining any assurance the pair will not face execution if convicted in the US. Lawyers for Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who is contesting Ms Elgizouli’s case, said it was not yet known whether the pair will be charged in the US, but that there is the ‘most powerful interest’ in a proper investigation of their alleged crimes. The case is being heard by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and Mr Justice Garnham, who are expected to deliver their ruling at a later date.

Counter-terrorism police staged exercises across Europe this week to mark a cooperation deal between the European Union’s police agency and a network of national special intervention teams, like reported by thedefensepost.com.

Europol said the agreement, signed on Wednesday, October 10 with the Atlas Network aimed to increase the “safety of all European citizens” after a wave of terror incidents in Europe in recent years.

The Atlas association, which consists of 38 special intervention units from the 28 E.U. member states plus others from Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, was informally established in 2001 as an initiative of the Police Chiefs Task Force after the September 11 attacks in the United States. It was originally established to enable information exchange and co-operative training between units.

It was formalized by 2008 E.U. Council Decision which sets out rules to allow SIUs from one member state to operate on the territory of another in order to deal with a “crisis situation.”

The deal for “enhanced cooperation” will see a permanent Atlas Support Office attached to the European Counter Terrorism Centre (ECTC) at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague.

“As the European Union faces increasing threats from organised crime groups and terrorist attacks inspired by religious, left- and right-wing ideologies, an effective law enforcement response must include the availability of well-trained and E.U.-wide interoperable special intervention units,” Europol said.

“We see an increase of organized crime in Europe and we see also the threat of terrorism. So we have to give all the time a very efficient law enforcement answer, we have to test it,” AFP quoted Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle as saying.

“One important element we are pleased to see is the facilitation of cross-border deployment of Special Intervention Units,” De Bolle said. “Europol is also committed to supporting Atlas with the development of ambitious projects for the future, including the establishment of joint training activities and the pooling of resources.”

Herbert Kickl, Austria’s Minister of the Interior of Austria said the agreement “is an important step in the E.U.”

“In a crisis situation, special intervention units must be able to support each other across borders,” Kickl added.

To mark the signing, SIU personnel set off stun grenades during a live demonstration of a tactical assault outside Europol headquarters in The Hague.

The exercise at Europol headquarters took place just a few hundred meters from where Dutch security forces said they had caught four Russian spies trying to hack the nearby seat of the world’s chemical weapons watchdog.

Atlas common challenge counter terrorism exercises

The signing of the agreement coincided with the ATLAS common challenge, consisting of counter-terrorism exercises in seven European regions taking place between October 8 and 11.

Europol said the exercise “aims to test the effective operational readiness of European special intervention units as regards cross-border operations,” and to “gather information on warning systems and assistance procedures when tested under real-life circumstances.”

During the exercise, a central information and coordination hub was installed at Europol headquarters, and officers from the regional units and members of the Atlas Command and Control Forum supported coordination of the regional operations.

Maritime scenario – hostage situation

Special intervention units from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland trained for a hostage situation on a vessel on the Baltic Sea, focusing on coordinating assault forces in boats and helicopters.

Aircraft scenario – hijacking

Special intervention units from Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal trained to deal with the hijacking of a wide-body aircraft at Teruel airport in Spain, which is usually used for aircraft maintenance and storage. Mechanical door opening and breaching methods were tested.

Metro scenario – hostages on a train

Special intervention units from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia tried to free and evacuate 500 hostages from a metro train in Warsaw.

Mass hostage scenario

A situation similar to that during the 2015 Paris attacks was re-enacted in the historical Slovakian town Komárno. Special intervention units from Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia trained in reacting to highly mobile offenders, the coordination of many units, and the use of armored or special vehicles.

Land/sea scenario

Special intervention units from Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and England assaulted raided a mock “terrorist ship” heading for Northern Ireland in Icelandic waters.

Train and CBRN scenario

A passenger train has been taken over by terrorists in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. In the course of negotiations the units gain information that a dirty bomb could be used. During negotiations, special intervention units from Germany, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland and Italy learn that a dirty bomb is a possibility, and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense specialists must be brought in.

Bus hijacking scenario

In this scenario, a coach was hijacked in northern Greece and tracked to Bucharest. To prevent it entering Ukraine, special intervention units from Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania assault what has become two hijacked coaches.

The possibility of a terrorist attack involving chemical or biological weapons is getting closer, Britain’s security minister and top counter-terrorism police officer warned on Tuesday, according to reuters.com.

“I see plots where the only limit to the ambition of our adversaries is their imagination,” Ben Wallace told a security conference in London.

“As I speak, terrorists continue to explore new ways to kill us on our streets: chemical and biological weapons are marching in closer. They have developed and worked on a better arsenal. We have to be prepared for the day that might come to our streets here.”

Last year, Britain suffered five attacks that the authorities blamed on terrorism that killed 36 people, four of which were carried out by Islamist militants.

In addition, police say another 17 plots were foiled and the national threat level remains at “severe”, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

“These things have been used on the battlefield and what’s used on the battlefield will eventually be adapted to be used on domestic soil,” Neil Basu, the UK police lead for counter-terrorism, said when asked about Wallace’s comments on chemical and biological weapons.

“So I think he is as concerned as I am that these are the kind of threats we’ve got to take very seriously and we have got to make sure we have the right preparations to counter that threat.”

British security services, like those across Europe, have been worried about those who left the UK to fight on behalf of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, returning home and bringing back the knowledge they learned on the battlefields there.

Wallace said about 900 Britons had gone to fight in Syria and Iraq and just under half had returned while more than 150 had been killed.

Basu also repeated a warning from police that failure to strike a deal with the European Union that allowed Britain to continue sharing and receiving intelligence with their European colleagues would harm the fight against terrorism.

“UK policing currently utilises 32 European law enforcement and national security measures on a daily basis,” he said.

“The loss of one or more of these measure, particularly covering areas such as intelligence-sharing, surveillance, pursuit and extradition, would have a significant operational implication for us.”

Swedish prosecutors appealed to their country’s Supreme Court against a lower tribunal’s decision not to deport a Gazan immigrant who firebombed a synagogue, like reported by inn.com.

The unusual appeal announced Thursday by the Public Prosecutor’s Office is of a June court decision not to deport Gaza-born Feras Alnadim, who attacked a synagogue in Gothernburg in December with two accomplices. The appeal follows vocal protests about his trial by Israel and the World Jewish Congress.

Last month, a Swedish appeals court overturned a criminal tribunal’s ruling from June stating that Alnadim would be deported at the end of his two-year prison term. The firebombing, he and his accomplices said, was payback for US President Donald Trump’s decision to have the United States recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Since Alnadim committed a crime that “could be perceived as a threat to other Jews,” and that Israel “might be interested in the matter,” the appeals court ruled that one “cannot safeguard the man’s fundamental human rights if he is deported to Palestine,” the judge wrote in his opinion.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office decided to appeal the ruling in the Supreme Court because “there is no reason to assume that the man would be subjected to death penalty, torture or other inhuman treatment upon return to Palestine,” the office wrote in a statement Thursday.

Aron Verstandig, president of the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, in a statement on Facebook called the prosecutors’ call to appeal an “important decision.” He said the community expects the Supreme Court to order Alnadim’s deportation.

A jihadist network spanning 17 prisons had attempted to radicalize inmates and establish a “prison front,” according to authorities. Several of the inmates were due to be released, posing a potential security risk, like reported by dw.com.

Spain’s Interior Ministry said police had dismantled a network of jihadists operating in more than a dozen prisons across the country.

The ministry said the ring consisted of 25 prisoners “accused of being part of a group close to the ‘Islamic State’ (IS), which was dedicated to radicalizing other prisoners.”

“Although the investigation began by focusing on an inmate in a particular prison, to date the illegal activity of the group extended to 17 prisons, which account for 55 percent of jails that house prisoners linked to jihadist terrorism,” the ministry said.

‘Security risk’

The network attempted to radicalize other inmates in order to establish a “prison front.” A source at the interior ministry told AFP news agency that although there was no “concrete plan” to carry out an attack, the ring had created a “belligerent state of mind towards prison staff.”

The ring also attempted to bypass mechanisms aimed at monitoring and preventing radicalization within Spain’s prison system.

“The very existence of the group is viewed as a potential security risk, even more so given the upcoming release of several of the inmates who were targeted by the investigation,” the ministry said.

‘Incubators of terrorism’

Studies have shown that several criminals who go on to become jihadists have been radicalized in prison. A 2016 study found that more than half of Europe’s foreign fighters had criminal records, and 27 percent had been radicalized in detention facilities.

The UN has also warned of the heightened threat of prisons serving as “incubators of terrorism and violent extremism.”

Read more: ‘Crime-terror nexus’: Europe’s former criminals, future terrorists

Spain’s Interior Ministry noted that the operation to break up the IS-affiliated ring was the first of its kind in Europe and brought together law enforcement agencies with those that manage prison facilities in the country.

France took on Tuesday a number of measures against Iran, after officially accusing the country’s intelligence ministry of standing behind a June plot to attack an exiled opposition group’s rally outside Paris, like reported by aawsat.com.

The French government seized the assets of Iran’s intelligence services and Iranian diplomat Assadollah Asadi and deputy minister and director general of intelligence Saeid Hashemi Moghadam.

France had warned Tehran to expect a robust response after Asadi was arrested in Germany suspected of involvement in a plot to bomb the meeting of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The French measures revealed that Paris is certain about Iran’s involvement in the plot.

“Behind all this was a long, meticulous and detailed investigation by our (intelligence) services that enabled us to reach the conclusion, without any doubt, that responsibility fell on the Iranian intelligence ministry,” a French diplomatic source said, according to Reuters.

The source added that Moghadam had ordered the attack and Asadi had put it into action.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA: “We deny once again the allegations against Iran and demand the immediate release of the Iranian diplomat.”

The incident was a plot “designed by those who want to damage Iran’s long-established relations with France and Europe,” he said.

In a news briefing in Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert noted the French action and said it was evidence that “there’s probably no one who has felt terrorism stemming from Iran perhaps more than – well, the Syrians – that has felt it more than some Europeans.”

Sources close to file of the French-Iranian relations told Asharq Al-Awsat there are two possibilities behind the French accusations.

“Either Tehran had presented materials considered by France as not sufficient to clear Iran from the charge of plotting the June attack or France might have possessed enough evidence to refute the Iranian arguments.”

The French Le Monde newspaper wrote on Tuesday that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani failed to present to his French counterpart information he had promised to offer concerning the issue.

Ten days ago, Asharq Al-Awsat asked a source close to French President Emmanuel Macron about French-Iranian relations following the June plot, especially after Paris suspended nominating a new ambassador to Iran and did not respond to Tehran’s nomination of diplomatic positions in France.

The sources said there is no direct link between the June incident and the absence of a French envoy in Tehran.

“Tehran promised to offer objective material about the incident, in a way that allow us to continue our diplomatic relations, as in the past,” the sources said.

Tehran already suffers from bad relations with the US after Washington pulled out from the 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed tough sanctions on Iran.

High-ranking diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Tehran is not in a position to issue warnings to France and other European states that signed the deal.