Syrian Regime and Opposition Forces Agree Prisoner Swap

A Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, the Jaysh al-Izza (Army of Glory) faction, and Syrian regime forces have conducted a prisoner exchange at the Tarnabah border crossing near the town of Saraqib, northwestern Syria.

Jaysh al-Izza published a statement confirming that negotiations over the detainees with the Assad regime lasted for a full year and a half, and other talks were still ongoing.

Captain Shadi Hanak, a leader of the opposition faction, told IranWire that the group had released five members of Syrian government forces, in addition to the body of the Syrian state’s Brigadier General Dariush Dersti, in exchange for three members of Jaysh al-Izza who were caught while on a “secret mission”.

General Dariush Dersti was killed in 2016 during clashes in Tal Nasiriyah in the northern countryside of Hama (northwest of Syria), during battles between the Syrian opposition and the forces of the Syrian regime.