Over 200 ISIS prisoners ‘not involved in crimes’ released in northern Syria
Zinar, a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) military relations office, told Kurdistan 24 the 283 Islamic State prisoners who were released “proved not to be involved in any armed activities.”
“Many were poor, only workers and employees,” he added.
Zinar noted that the release was part of reconciliation attempts between local officials and at the request of tribal figures in coordination with the self-administration.
“The tribal leaders reached out to the SDF and SDC [Syrian Democratic Council] to release them, and they responded positively,” Abdullah al-Muhdi, the spokesperson of the Tribal Reconciliation Council in Tabqa and its countryside, stated.
“The reason they released those people is that they were poor people,” Muhdi explained.
“For those people, life was tough, so they joined ISIS,” he added. “They had to feed their families, so we released them. It’s not about ideology.”
