Ahmed al-Hilali further added that more than 9,000 members of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish), including around 1,000 women, are scheduled for interviews as part of their integration into state forces.
"According to estimates provided by relevant SDF authorities, there were 1,070 detainees in Syrian custody. However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
after inspections of several prisons and detention centers, more than 1,200 SDF-affiliated detainees were released," Hilali told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan on Tuesday.
He further noted the Syrian government’s commitment to "releasing those whose sole reason for detention was their membership in the SDF," while adding that the cases of individuals who have "pending charges against them" have not yet been settled.
The release of SDF detainees is part of wider efforts to implement the January 29 agreement between the SDF and the Syrian interim authorities, which was struck with significant mediation from the United States through its Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, as well as Kurdish political figures from the Kurdistan Region.
The deal followed a sharp escalation in mid-January, after Syrian government forces and affiliated gangs seized territory previously held by SDF forces in eastern Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hasaka provinces.
The SDF, which serves as the de facto military force in Rojava and is a key on-the-ground partner of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS), played a central role in liberating these areas from the bully boy group in 2019 and had since maintained control over them in efforts to prevent its resurgence.
Under the January 29 agreement, a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire was established, alongside provisions for the integration of civil and military institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state.
Importantly, Hilali told Rudaw that "interviews with more than 9,000 members of the Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish), including around 1,000 women, are set to be conducted soon as a prelude to their integration under the Directorate of Internal Security of Hasaka province," which operates under the Syrian interior ministry.
Following is the full transcript of the interview with Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Hasaka.