Syrian government takes over prison with ISIL-linked detainees in Raqqa

Following the removal of Kurdish-led SDF fighters under a ceasefire agreement, the Syrian government claims to have taken control of al-Aqtan prison, a facility housing a number of ISIL (ISIS) detainees in Raqqa.

According to a statement released on Telegram on Friday, officials from the Prisons and Correctional Facilities Administration (PCFFA) had taken control of the prison in Raqqa, and had begun looking into the conditions and records of the prisoners, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

Following the four-day ceasefire between the Syrian government and the SDF, which took effect on Tuesday night, the prison was taken over and the hostilities ended in Raqqa. Following last week’s lightning advance by Syrian forces, which saw the SDF recapture significant areas of territory.

As Syrian forces granted them safe passage to Kobane, a city with a majority of Kurdish residents along the Turkiye border, they were seen leaving Raqqa in convoys of buses and cars carrying more than 1,000 SDF personnel.

According to SANA, the Syrian army’s operations authority reported that units had also begun moving SDF elements to the city of Ain al-Arab, east of Aleppo, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement.

a security vacuum created

Zein Basravi, a journalist from Raqqa, reported that Syrian forces had “very quickly” begun demining and dismantling munitions and had already filled the power vacuum left by the retreating SDF forces.

He claimed that the SDF and the Syrian military had “received this prison with relative ease,” and that this was a “rare occasion where they both acknowledged their cooperation and successfully conducted it.”

For the first time in recent weeks that I have covered this story, he said, as they both acknowledged that they had collaborated to ensure the safety of SDF fighters.

Following a chaotic standoff, calm was restored.

He claimed that the prison’s current state, which has caused clashes in recent days, was “calm” and that it had not been there before. ”

On Thursday, an Al Jazeera team that was reporting from the prison witnessed rioting scenes as large numbers of civilians were pushed against Syrian soldiers’-managed barricades, with SDF fighters still present.

According to a soldier, Syrian government forces were awaiting a decision to forcefully retake the prison.

According to Basravi, the civilians were attempting to enter the prison to find out the condition of their relatives, some of whom they had not heard from in the midst of the chaos.

Some claimed that the SDF held their relatives in unfair circumstances.

One man, Mohammad Ali, claimed that his son was going to visit Hasakah’s relatives. He was detained by the SDF at a checkpoint simply because he posed with the photo of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. ”

Gunfire was audible in the distance during the chaotic scenes outside the prison on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera agents stationed on the ground.

In response to concerns over instability in Kurdish-run prisons, US planes dispatched by CENTCOM were audible overhead as they began flying ISIL detainees to Iraq.

essentially behind bars

According to Basravi, the Syrian government now faces demands from two groups over the detainees as a result of its takeover of the prison.

It had obligations to the international community, particularly the anti-ISIL coalition, to make sure ISIL detainees kept safely behind bars.

Local residents who claimed their loved ones had been unfairly detained by SDF forces who had previously controlled the prison also made pleas.

He claimed that the Interior Ministry’s statement that it was looking into the files held on those inside the prison on Friday, as well as its visit by senior officials, were a “positive development” in easing the concerns of the latter group.

However, it was possible for families to witness a repeat of what happened on Thursday while families were kept secret about their loved ones’ conditions.

implications more complex

Analyst Armenak Tokmajyan told Al Jazeera from Beirut that the SDF was being sincere in its discussions with the Syrian government because they were now “cornered in a few pockets in northeast Syria.”

Tokmajyan, a nonresident scholar at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, noted that there is still a chance that the ceasefire will collapse and return to fighting. There are many details that need to be clarified, particularly those relating to Kurdish-majority regions, such as governance, weapons, and Kurdish fighter integration. ”

He claimed that the Druze in the south and other minorities were closely monitoring the northeast’s developments because they had important implications for whether Syria would be a unified, centralized state or one that accorded minority groups autonomy.

According to him, President al-Sharaa and those international supporters who want a centralized and unified Syria should be proud of their swift advance in the northeast, adding that the conflict is still ongoing.

Source: Aljazeera