Trump's ISIS concern

In a series of tweets, President Donald Trump has asked European countries to take back and put on trial hundreds of ISIS fighters captured in Syria. "Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing," the US President tweeted. He warned that as ISIS was "ready to fall," more than 800 prisoners could make their way to Europe. "The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them," Trump tweeted. "The US does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go." Trump's comments come as the area that ISIS now controls has shrunk to just 700 square metres, a commander with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said. The SDF has launched an offensive to oust ISIS from its last enclave in Syria, in the small town of Baghouz Al-Fawqani in the country's east. At its height, the group controlled an area the size of Great Britain and ruled over 10 million people. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid said Britain will "not hesitate" to prevent the return of ISIS fighters to the UK, but those who make it back will be investigated and potentially prosecuted. Downing Street referred to Javid's Friday statement when asked about Trump's tweets. "We have a range of tough measures to stop people who pose a serious threat from returning to the UK, including depriving them of their British citizenship or excluding them from the UK," Javid said. "We closely monitor any returnees who pose a risk and new terror legislation passed this week allows us to make travelling to certain designated regions an offence. We also support communities in their efforts to prevent radicalisation." Trump's tweets came days after a British teenager, who joined ISIS in 2015, said she wanted to return home after falling pregnant. Shamima Begum travelled from London to Syria with two of her classmates when she was 15 to join the caliphate. Now 19, she told The Times that she had no regrets about going to Syria but that she wanted to come home "to have my child." Her family's lawyer announced Begum had given birth to her third child. But her British citizenship has, since, been revoked. In December, Trump announced that troops would be pulled out of Syria because ISIS had been "defeated." The US continues to face criticism for the plan, a move that shocked allies, appalled US lawmakers and triggered resignations.