The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alone can decide the fates of the approximately 12,000 Islamic State (IS terrorist group, banned in Russia) prisoners in their captivity, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi said in an interview
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2019) The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alone can decide the fates of the approximately 12,000 Islamic State (IS terrorist group, banned in Russia) prisoners in their captivity, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi said in an interview.Last week, Kurdish authorities said that 785 mainly foreign IS captives had escaped a prison camp in Ain Issa amid Turkey's operation in northern Syria. Turkey has accused the Kurdish militia of deliberately releasing these prisoners and claimed that its soldiers found no captives in Tal Abyad and other towns it seized from Kurdish forces where IS members were known to be held.
"Now they talk a lot about the detained IS militants. They say that Turkey or the Syrian regime will rule this region. We will not accept this in any way. We will determine the fate of the IS. We are the ones who detained them, they are with us. There is nobody who will determine their fate. It is we who will make the decision," the general told the Kurdish channel Ronahi tv.
On Sunday, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration announced it had reached a deal with Damascus that would see Syrian government forces take positions along its border with Turkey that were previously occupied by Kurdish-allied US forces.
Turkey began Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria on October 9 with the aim of setting a 20-mile buffer zone free of any Kurdish presence along its border with Syria. Damascus has called the operation an invasion, while the US and EU has imposed sanctions and embargoes against Turkey.
