SDF fighters hand over Aqtan prison to Syria government amid continued doubts over ceasefire deal

The Syrian government said early on Friday that its troops had begun transferring Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from the Al-Aqtan prison in the north, where they had been holding detainees linked to the Islamic State group.

This came amid continued doubts about a four-day ceasefire deal between the SDF and government forces, with reports of rights abuses by both sides and allegations of ethnic cleansing and massacres by the Kurdish-led SDF against Arabs.

The government has warned that it will resume its military offensive if the SDF fails to integrate into the government under the terms of the deal agreed upon this week.

In another camp housing relatives of IS fighters and other civilians, Al-Hol, the UN said on Friday that poor security conditions had prevented its refugee agency's staff from entering.

An AFP correspondent in Raqqa saw buses and cars departing Al-Aqtan detention facility on the city's outskirts overnight, escorted by government vehicles, after roads to the facility were cut on Thursday.

Syrian state television reported that the transfer of SDF members has begun "after five days of negotiations with the Syrian state".

They will go to the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane, in Aleppo province on the northern border with Turkey "according to the security arrangements agreed upon by both parties", it reported.

Also in Kobane, a video circulating on X purported to show a fighter from the YPG - the main component of the SDF - boasting of the killing of 21 people, shown lying in a field with their hands tied behind their back.

Another video also claimed to show Arab men sitting in a field with their hands bound after being expelled from their homes in Hassakeh.

The New Arab could not independently verify the content of the videos, but both videos have been widely circulated among Syrians. 

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is seeking to extend its control across the country, the SDF has relinquished swathes of territory in recent days and withdrawn to parts of Syria's Hassakeh province in the far northeast.

Government threatens to resume fighting

On Sunday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced a deal with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi that had included a ceasefire and the integration of the Kurds' administration into the state, which will take responsibility for IS prisoners.

On the social media platform X, Abdi said the SDF would "work with all its capacities" to achieve "genuine integration" into the Syrian state, while preserving the ceasefire.

He also welcomed US support for the ceasefire and the efforts of envoy Tom Barrack in this regard. The comments came after Abdi met Barrack and senior Kurdish figures in the Iraqi city of Erbil.

However, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that the SDF had carried out widespread violations during the first two days of the ceasefire agreement, warning that the government would move to a "military option" if the agreement is not implemented after the deadline expires.

In statements to the New Arab's affiliate Syria TV, the ministry said that "the past two days have witnessed widespread ceasefire violations by the SDF", claiming that Damascus "is exercising restraint in the hope that the SDF will adhere to the new agreement and proceed along the path of integration".

The Syrian Foreign Ministry warned that the government "will resort to the military option if the SDF refuses to implement the new agreement after the four-day deadline ends", explaining that this option would be taken if political efforts fail, and the terms of the agreement are not respected.

SDF fighters leave Al-Atqan

The ministry also indicated that Damascus "is counting on mediation efforts led by the leadership in Erbil to implement the January 18 agreement", emphasising that the government "has experience in managing ISIS prisons and combating terrorism".

Syrian state news agency 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".

A government source told the broadcaster that around 800 fighters would exit the facility under "an internationally sponsored agreement aimed at de-escalation".

IS detainees will be managed "according to Syrian law", the source added.

Thousands of suspected extremists, their families, including foreigners, and other civilians unrelated to IS have been held in Kurdish-run prisons and camps in Syria since IS's defeat in 2019 at the hands of the SDF, backed by a US-led coalition.

The source said the step came "in response to international mediation aimed at preventing a military escalation... and ensuring a peaceful transfer", of authority at key sites.

On Wednesday, the United States said it had launched an operation that could see 7,000 IS detainees moved from Syria to Iraq, with 150 transferred so far.

AFP contributed to this report.