(Swiss Info) The Swiss authorities have negotiated the release of two half-sisters, aged 15 and nine, from a Kurdish-controlled camp in Syria back to Switzerland.
They were taken from Geneva to Syria by their mother in 2016 when she joined the Islamic State terror group. The mother and two half-sisters ended up in the Kurdish-controlled Roj detainment camp in northeastern Syria.
The fate of the two girls received intensive media scrutiny and the Swiss authorities were urged to intervene.
On Monday, the foreign ministry confirmed that the girls had arrived at Geneva Airport in Switzerland having first been transferred to Iraq.
According to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, a Swiss team visited the Roj camp and managed to persuade their mother to release the two girls.
(Text updated)
