DUSHANBE, 01.05.2019. (NIAT Khovar) – Last night, 84 Tajik children were repatriated from Iraqi camps and prisons to Dushanbe, reports The Asia Times.

The repatriation of children of Tajik militants who were linked with terrorist groups in Iraq was the result of negotiations and collaboration between the government of Tajikistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, Tajik and Iraqi law enforcement agencies and international organizations, especially UNICEF.

While some of the repatriated children were taken to Iraq by one of their parents, others were born there. Their fathers have died while fighting for the Islamic State or other terrorist organizations, while their mothers are currently serving terms in Iraqi prisons for aiding terrorists.

Asolatmo Tilloeva resident of Abdurahmoni Jomi district, came to the airport in Dushnabe to meet her grandchildren, — a 6-year-old grandson Abubakr and her 3-year-old granddaughter Fotima. In 2014, their mother, Saodatmo Tilloev, joined her husband who had decided to leave Tajikistan behind for Iraq.  She is currently serving a life term in an Iraqi prison.

According to Tajik security agencies, approximately 1,899 Tajik citizens have joined terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq during the past five years. Over 300 of them have died, hundreds of others went missing in the battlefields of a foreign war in a foreign country.