Syria: Syrian Kurds release over 600 Islamic State (IS) linked prisoners
The Kurdish-led forces controlling Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), the Kurdish northeast Syria, on Thursday freed more than 600 Syrian prisoners detained over links to the Islamic State jihadist group.
The 631 detainees had been held on terrorism charges and were the first batch released in an amnesty deal announced recently following calls from Arab tribes in eastern Syria.
The Kurdish administration in northeast Syria hold tens of thousands of people suspected of links to IS and their relatives, most of them Syrians and Iraqis.
It also holds hundreds of foreigners, whose fate has been a diplomatic hot potato and who are not included in the latest amnesty deal.