The Director of the Internal Security Directorate in Aleppo, Major Mohammad Abdul Ghani, explained that the prisoner exchange operation with the SDF included the release of more than 200 detainees in the first phase.

Abdul Ghani stated at a press conference attended by Enab Baladi yesterday, Thursday, April 3, that the operation is the first phase of the agreement that was made between the transitional Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the SDF leader, Mazloum Abdi.

Al-Sharaa and Abdi signed an agreement on March 10, stipulating the integration of SDF civil and military institutions with state institutions.

Abdul Ghani did not specify the number of detainees released from each side, but he confirmed that the total counts on both sides exceed 600 detainees.

A source in Aleppo indicated to Enab Baladi that the number of SDF detainees released by the government reached about 100 individuals, while the operation will continue on the following day.

For his part, Major Abdul Ghani assured that there will be further phases through which all prisons will be emptied, pointing out the “significant efforts” being made to free all Syrians detained by all parties.

Abdul Ghani remarked that all parties are working to implement the agreement and that arrangements and parallel steps are being made to clear the area of military personnel and remove barriers in the near future.

He emphasized that the agreement made between the two sides was achieved through Syrian–Syrian efforts without any external intervention.

Regarding the fate of the Internal Security Forces affiliated with the SDF, Ali Hanoura, the Deputy Governor of Aleppo, clarified that the current agreement is derived from the general agreement between al-Sharaa and Abdi.

Hanoura noted that armed individuals in the neighborhoods of al-Ashrafiyah and Sheikh Maqsoud will head in the coming days to areas in northeastern Syria, after which further agreements will be made.

Yesterday, a prisoner exchange operation took place at the Sheikh Maqsoud intersection near the al-Ashrafiyah district, according to what was reported by Enab Baladi‘s correspondent.

Meanwhile, the SDF and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) have not commented on the prisoner exchange process through their official channels up to the time of this report.

After a broader agreement

The prisoner exchange operation came after an agreement made between representatives of the presidential office and the Civil Council of the al-Ashrafiyah and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in the northern part of the city on April 1.

The agreement, which included 14 points, mandated the gradual withdrawal of military forces affiliated with the SDF from Sheikh Maqsoud and al-Ashrafiyah, allowing public security to enter these neighborhoods and restricting arms to the state.

The twelfth point of the agreement stated, “Discuss the fate of detainees from both parties in Aleppo governorate, and exchange all prisoners who were captured after the liberation.”

For years, SDF forces have maintained complete control over the two neighborhoods since 2015 and retained control after the entry of the Military Operations Administration on November 30, 2024.

In the early days of the Military Operations Administration’s entry and establishment of control over most neighborhoods in Aleppo, the surrounding area of these neighborhoods experienced sporadic clashes.

Moreover, sniper operations emanating from within al-Ashrafiyah and Sheikh Maqsoud resulted in civilian casualties.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) recorded the killing of 65 civilians, including a child and two women, shot by SDF snipers in the vicinity of these neighborhoods from November 30, 2024, to January 30, 2025.