The Syrian government released a new batch of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) members held in its custody, as part of a continuing series of exchange and release operations carried out in al-Hasakah governorate (northeastern Syria), based on the January 29 agreement signed by the two sides.
The release took place on Monday, May 25, under the supervision of the presidential team tasked with following up on the implementation of the agreement, and in the presence of al-Hasakah Internal Security Commander Brig. Gen. Marwan al-Ali, his deputy, Mahmoud Khalil, according to local sources in the governorate.
The new batch included the release of 88 SDF fighters. Buses carrying the detainees first arrived in the al-Mailabiyah area, south of al-Hasakah city, before moving to the Sports City in the Ghweiran neighborhood inside the city, where they were released this afternoon.
Al-Hasakah Governor Nour al-Din Ahmad said that “release operations will continue in successive batches until the detainees’ file is fully completed,” noting that there would be “another batch today or tomorrow to complete the number.”
The governor added that the relevant authorities are working “after the Eid holiday to follow up on arrangements for the release of all detainees in implementation of the January agreement,” thanking the Syrian leadership for its follow-up on this humanitarian file.”
Releases by Both Sides Since March
The new operation comes within a series of reciprocal measures between the Syrian government and the SDF that began last March, during which al-Hasakah governorate witnessed several exchanges and releases of detainees from both sides.
In March, al-Hasakah saw the release of 232 detainees in what was described at the time as the fourth batch of releases of SDF fighters held by the Syrian government.
On April 11, an exchange was carried out between the two sides that included the release of 400 SDF fighters held by the Syrian government, in return for the release of 90 detainees held by the SDF.
Before that, on March 19, another exchange was carried out in which 300 detained SDF fighters were released in return for a similar batch of detainees held by the SDF, shortly before Eid al-Fitr.
Between March 8 and 10, the governorate also witnessed successive exchange operations, beginning with the release of 59 SDF fighters on March 8, then completed on March 10 through the release of 100 detainees from each side in an operation near the southern entrance to al-Hasakah city.
The January Agreement
These operations fall under broader understandings between the Syrian government and the SDF, following field developments in northeastern Syria in mid-January.
At the time, the Syrian army had extended its control over Raqqa governorate and large parts of the countryside of Deir Ezzor and al-Hasakah, while the SDF retreated to the main city centers in al-Hasakah governorate, especially the cities of al-Hasakah and al-Qamishli, as well as the district of Ain al-Arab, (Kobani) in the eastern Aleppo countryside.
Those developments were followed by the signing of an agreement between the two sides at the end of January. The agreement included provisions related to integrating the SDF’s military, security, and service institutions into the structures of Syrian government ministries, alongside implementing reciprocal detainee releases and working to return displaced people to their areas of origin.
Ongoing File Without a Final Timetable
The detainees’ file is viewed as one of the most prominent files being implemented on the ground under the agreement, amid continuing exchanges and releases at an intermittent pace over the past months.
No official statements have yet been issued on the number of detainees remaining or a final timetable for completing the releases. However, local officials in al-Hasakah say coordination between the two sides is continuing to close the file completely in the next stage.
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