ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Damascus-affiliated forces on Thursday began the process of swapping nearly 250 prisoners as part of a recent agreement between both sides, state media reported.
“The process of releasing prisoners has begun between the internal security directorate in Aleppo and the Syrian Democratic Forces, with the number of prisoners reaching approximately 250 individuals,” Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said, citing its Aleppo correspondent.
The SDF and the the new leadership in Damascus on Tuesday struck an agreement to exchange all prisoners and keep the SDF-affiliated internal security forces (Asayish) in Aleppo's predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood, said Bedran Ciya Kurd, advisor to the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), on X.
“This will be done in coordination with the relevant service and security institutions in Aleppo, and special mechanisms will be established to achieve this,” said Kurd, also a former co-president of the Kurdish-led administration’s foreign affairs department.
“The Syrian authorities in Aleppo bear responsibility for any threats the two neighborhoods may face, while ensuring joint efforts to mitigate these risks,” he emphasized.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor that relies on a network of sources within Syria, said on Tuesday that 170 SDF prisoners and a number of the bodies of its members who had died during armed clashes in the past will be released. In return, the Kurdish forces will release around 400 detainees and bodies of security forces affiliated with Damascus.The Kurdish-led SDF and Damascus-affiliated forces on Thursday swapped nearly 250 prisoners.
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📸: SANA
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A coalition of opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, in early December toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. In late January, Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s interim president.
The SDF maintained hold over Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh as HTS-led forces were marched on Aleppo. No clashes have occurred between them.
Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi signed a landmark agreement on March 10 to integrate the SDF into the Syrian state apparatus. The agreement recognizes the Kurds as an integral part of Syria, includes a countrywide ceasefire, and stipulates the return of displaced Syrians to their hometowns.
