Deputy Governor of Al-Hasakah: Release of 232 SDF Members

The deputy governor of al-Hasakah, Ahmed al-Hilali, announced the release of 232 members of the SDF who were arrested during the recent events, stressing that the step comes within the framework of the implementation of the January 29 agreement, which stipulated the release of all detainees.

Al-Hilali was a spokesman for the team tasked with overseeing the implementation of the January 29th agreement before issuing a presidential decree naming him deputy governor of al-Hasakah.

Al-Hilali explained in statements quoted by the "Al-Hasakeh Media Directorate" that the Syrian government has taken over the management of prisons in Al-Hasakeh province, considering that what is happening "is not a prisoner exchange operation", but rather a continuation of the implementation of the terms of the agreement previously concluded.

He added that the Syrian government has taken over the prisons in al-Hasakah province in full, in parallel with the procedures for the release of detainees, as part of what he described as the completion of the implementation of the agreement between the two sides.

Al-Hilali: A fourth batch of displaced people in Afrin leaves Al-Hasakah

Al-Hilali confirmed  that a new batch of Afrin residents residing in al-Hasakah province will set off on Saturday, towards their villages and towns north of Aleppo, as part of the operations of the return of displaced people to their original areas.

In a post on his Facebook page, Al-Hilali said that the convoy will include about 1,000 families, wishing them a "safe return", and stressing his hope that all displaced people will return safely to their areas.

He added that the Internal Security Command in al-Hasakeh and Aleppo provinces will provide the necessary protection for the convoy during the return journey, while the Ministry of Emergency and Disasters will work to provide emergency supplies and basic services needed by the convoy.

On  April 14,  800 families from Afrin returned in the largest recorded return to date,  and 10 days before  the return  of a convoy of about 200 families from Afrin in the city of Qamishli.

The first of these convoys was launched at the beginning of last March, after the January agreement with the SDF, where about 400 families from the Afrin region returned to their homes in the Aleppo countryside, after years of displacement in Al-Hasakah province.

Al-Hilali: Promises to hand over the Justice Palace

Earlier on Friday, Al-Hilali spoke of promises  to take over the judicial palace in al-Hasakah after lengthy negotiations with the SDF following the attack by groups of protesters on the palace building under the pretext of removing the Kurdish language from the sign hanging on the building.

In his statements, al-Hilali explained that the Asayish members who integrated into the Internal Security Forces "confronted the people who attacked the judicial palace", noting that the judicial palace in al-Hasakah "was not occupied during the past period" and that the signs placed on the building were "modern and not old".

Al-Hilali stressed that the Justice Palace is "a sovereign symbol of the state in any province, and this sovereignty should not be contested", noting what he described as "the efforts of the current that pushes towards integration within the Syrian Democratic Forces", referring to the efforts related to the implementation of understandings between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces.