Beirut, Oct. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in north-east Syria on Thursday freed over 600 prisoners who were detained over links to Islamic State, a Kurdish spokesman told dpa.
“The 631 detainees are all Syrian nationals and had no blood on their hands,” Amjad Osman, a spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), told dpa. “No foreigners with links to Daesh [Islamic State] were released,” he added.
They were the first batch released from prisons in eastern Syria after an amnesty deal reached with Arab tribes in the area, he said.
Osman added that the released were held in the Alaya detention centre, on the outskirts of the north-eastern city of Qamishli.
Thousands of Islamic State fighters, including foreigners, and their families have been detained in jails and camps set up by the SDF in 2016. Syrian Kurds have played a major role in fighting the Islamic State terrorist group in the war-torn country.
The Kurds have been calling on foreign countries to take back nationals currently in SDF jails.
GNA