ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian government plans to release over 50 members of the now-dissolved Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from prison on Friday, a senior security official said Thursday.
“A number of imprisoned Syrian Democratic Forces fighters held by the government will be released by tomorrow,” Siyamand Afrin, deputy commander of the General Security Forces in Hasaka province, told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan. According to a document obtained by Rudaw, 51 former SDF members will be released.
The release is part of a broader prisoner exchange under a landmark January agreement between Damascus and the SDF, which had previously resulted in the release of about 890 detained individuals by late May.
The planned release comes days after SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced the dissolution of the force following the integration of its members into the Syrian army.
Afrin also said that “preparations have been completed, and within the next four days, a second convoy of 1,035 displaced families will return to their areas in Sari Kani [Ras al-Ain].”
The first convoy of 410 Kurdish families left the Washokani camp in Hasaka for Sari Kani in mid-August. The Syrian transitional government provided each family with $10,000 to renovate homes that had been occupied by armed groups.
The initial return was marred by violence, however, when some of the displaced families arriving in their hometown came under attack by local saboteurs attempting to prevent them from reclaiming their properties.
Sari Kani was controlled by Turkey and its Syrian proxies in 2019, resulting in the displacement of a large number of Kurdish families.
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