ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s ministry for migration and displaced on Friday said it is set to repatriate 150 families from al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) that houses people with links to the Islamic State (ISIS).

Al-Hol camp director Jihan Hanan said preparations were under way for the voluntary return of 66 families from the massive tent city, where the vast majority of inmates are women and children, to areas inside Syria.

Hakan Fidan to discuss regional security alongside bilateral relations during his visit to Baghdad - Anadolu Ajansı

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Iraq on Sunday for talks with officials on the fight against Kurdish militants, security issues and bilateral ties, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Saturday.

Sham, which overthrew the Assad regime last month, reflects rising U.S. alarm that ISIS could mount a resurgence.

Any withdrawal of US military forces and equipment from Syria by new US President Donald Trump would be a “nightmare” scenario and aid a resurgence of ISIS, the commander of a US-backed Syrian military group has said.

Once Syria's most influential minority, Alawites struggle to move on from their association with a hated dictator.

Thousands of Shiite pilgrims are marching in Iraq dressed in black, heading on foot toward the golden twin-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in the northwestern Baghdad district of al-Kadhimiyah.

The leaders of two previously rival Kurdish groups have met in northern Iraq in an apparent step toward reconciliation at a time when the political upheaval in Syria has left Kurds in the region facing an uncertain future.

An official with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Thursday the militant group would agree to leave northeastern Syria if the U.S.-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) maintains a significant joint leadership role there.

The international community should focus on empowering Syria’s local civil society groups and advocating for women’s rights to ensure a more inclusive society.

You can’t extinguish fire with fire. You can’t address a mistake with another mistake. You have to correct the situation in Syria.”