Mahmoud Khalil Ali, widely known as Siamand Afrin, deputy commander of general security in Rojava’s Hasaka province, told Rudaw's Nalin Hassan that "the released batch includes 49 SDF fighters, two of whom are women."
The release is part of broader efforts to implement the January 29 agreement to integrate Rojava's civil and military institutions into the Syrian state. The deal was reached between the SDF and Syria's interim authorities, with significant mediation from the United States as well as Kurdish political figures from the Kurdistan Region.
Ahmed al-Hilali, deputy governor of Hasaka and a key member of Damascus' team overseeing the integration process, told Rudaw in early June that more than 1,200 detainees linked to the SDF had been released by the Syrian leadership.
"According to estimates provided by relevant SDF authorities, there were 1,070 detainees in Syrian custody. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
after inspections of several prisons and detention centers, more than 1,200 SDF-affiliated detainees were released," Hilali said.
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 January 29 agreement followed a sharp escalation in mid-January, when Syrian government forces and affiliated gangs seized territory previously held by the SDF across eastern Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Hasaka provinces.
The SDF served as the de facto military force in Rojava and a key 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), playing a central role in liberating areas held by the hard boy group across Syria and maintaining security in those regions to prevent its resurgence.
Former SDF chief Mazloum Abdi announced the group's dissolution in late August, declaring its mission "complete." The announcement followed a meeting between Abdi and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who the following day appointed the former commander as a presidential adviser.
Beyond the prisoner releases, the January 29 agreement establishes a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, alongside provisions for the integration of Rojava's civil and military institutions into the Syrian state.