BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iraq have repatriated 64 children born to Uzbek families affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
A ministry statement said the repatriation was carried out through the cooperation between the Iraqi authorities, UNICEF and an international organization.
So far, the Iraqi authorities have sent 537 children from IS-affiliated families of various nationalities to their home nations, the statement added.
The ministry calls upon all states to intensify efforts to receive their nationals who are children staying with their mothers in Iraqi rehabilitation services, as well as those whose sentences have expired.
Thousands of foreign fighters joined the IS which established a self-proclaimed caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014.
The extremist group lost its urban areas in Iraq in 2017, and in eastern Syria earlier this year.
