Syria’s government freed at least 126 minors being held in a northern prison on Saturday, state media reported, after taking over the facility from Kurdish forces as part of an agreement.
Footage on state television showed crowds gathered to welcome the released minors, while Syria’s official SANA news agency published the names of the remaining detainees, allowing people to look for them online.
State television reported “the release of 126 detainees under the age of 18 from al-Aqtan prison” in Raqa province, which has been used to hold ISIS detainees.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under military pressure from Damascus, which is seeking to extend its control across the country, the SDF has relinquished swathes of territory in recent days and withdrawn to parts of Hasakeh province in the far northeast.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had announced a deal with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi that included a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration into the state, which will take responsibility for ISIS prisoners.
Kurdish fighters were transferred from the prison on Friday to the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, in Aleppo province on the northern border with Turkey.
The same day, SANA quoted the army as saying the al-Aqtan transfer was “the first step in implementing the January 18 agreement under which the interior ministry will take over administration of the prison.”
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