The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

SOHR: Syria regime, armed rebels swap prisoners east of Aleppo

The Syrian regime and National Army factions have exchanged prisoners at the Abu Al-Zandin crossing near the city of Al-Bab, east of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

The war monitor reported local sources stating that the operation included the release of five prisoners from each side, under a Russian-Turkish guarantee ​​and supervision from the United Nations (UN) and the International Red Cross, as well as Revolutionary Liberation Committee leader Fahim Issa.

No further details have yet been reported on the identities of the released people. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency published photos of the prisoner exchange process, reporting: “The liberation of five abductees held by terrorist groups in Aleppo northern countryside.” SANA disclosed that the exchange came within the framework of the Astana Agreement.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry announced that the 18th round of the Astana negotiations on Syria would take place in mid-June in the capital, Nur-Sultan.

On 16 December, the National Army, east of Aleppo, conducted a prisoner exchange with the Bashar Al-Assad regime under Turkish-Russian auspices, during which five detainees from each side were released.

At the time, Iran, one of the three guarantors of the Astana process, expressed satisfaction with the success of the prisoner exchange process.

Last July, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the exchange of detainees between the opposition forces and the Al-Assad regime in the city of Al-Bab, as part of the “working group” on detainees and missing persons formed within the Astana process framework.

 

 

 

 

Source: Middle East Monitor