"The Syrian government says it has taken over control of al-Aqtan prison, a facility in the northeastern city of Raqqa housing a number of ISIL (ISIS) detainees, following the withdrawal of Kurdish-led SDF fighters under a ceasefire agreement. The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Telegram on Friday that officials from the Prisons and Correctional Facilities Administration had assumed control of the prison in the former SDF stronghold of Raqqa, and had begun an examination of prisoners' conditions and their records, the state-run SANA news agency reported."
"Convoys of buses and cars carrying more than 1,000 SDF personnel were seen moving out of Raqqa, as Syrian forces granted them safe passage to travel westwards to Kobane, a Kurdish-majority city on the border with Turkiye. The Syrian army's operations authority said units had also begun transferring SDF elements from the al-Aqtan prison and its surroundings in Raqqa governorate to the city of Ain al-Arab, east of Aleppo, in line with the ceasefire agreement, SANA reported."
"Reporting from Raqqa, Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi said Syrian forces had filled the power vacuum left by the retreating SDF forces very quickly, and teams had begun demining and dismantling munitions left inside the prison."
Syrian government forces have assumed control of al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, a facility holding ISIL detainees, after Kurdish-led SDF fighters withdrew under a four-day ceasefire. The Interior Ministry and the Prisons and Correctional Facilities Administration began examining prisoner conditions and records. Convoys carrying more than 1,000 SDF personnel departed Raqqa with safe passage to Kobane, and Syrian units began transferring remaining SDF elements toward Ain al-Arab in line with the agreement. Syrian teams started demining and dismantling munitions inside the prison. State news agency SANA reported the actions, and an Al Jazeera reporter described the handover as unusually smooth.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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