Syrian govt, Kurdish SDF trade accusations over ceasefire violations, IS group prisoners

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces traded accusations on Monday over the fate of Islamic State (IS) group prisoners held in Kurdish-run facilities, as Syria's army deployed in the north and east under a recent deal.

Syria's Kurdish-administered camps and prisons hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived IS links, including the biggest camp Al-Hol where more than 24,000 remain detained nearly seven years after the group's territorial defeat.

A deal announced Sunday between Damascus and the Kurds includes integrating the Kurdish administration responsible for IS group "prisoners and camps" and "forces responsible for protecting these facilities" into the Syrian government.

The agreement states that Damascus will take "full legal and security responsibility for them".

Al-Hol, where conditions are dire, is in an area of Hasakeh province still under Kurdish control, according to a defence ministry map released on Monday, despite the government deployment in nearby areas.

The camp has a high-security section that holds non-Syrian and non-Iraqi women and children, and its director Jihan Hanan told AFP in December more than 24,000 people -- around 15,000 Syrians, 3,500 Iraqis and 6,200 other foreigners -- are detained there.

On Monday, the SDF said Shadadi prison, "which holds thousands of IS terrorists, has been subjected to repeated attacks by Damascus-backed factions".

The prison, in the Kurdish-force stronghold of Hasakeh province southeast of Al-Hol, has "fallen outside the control of our forces", the SDF statement said.

Syria's army instead accused the Kurdish forces of releasing IS detainees from the facility and said its forces would work to "secure the prison" and comb the town for escapees.

 AFP was unable to verify the claims.

 In neighbouring Raqa province, the SDF said clashes erupted in the vicinity of Al-Aqtan prison where it holds IS fighters, reporting casualties among its forces.

 Prisons in Raqa and Hasakeh provinces also hold local Arab tribal fighters.

 Syrian state news agency SANA reported "the deployment of military police forces" around the prison in order to secure it.

 A government statement accused the Kurdish administration of "using the issue of terrorism" to "blackmail the international community".

 The Kurds have repeatedly urged countries to repatriate their citizens from its facilities but foreign governments have generally allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and domestic political backlash.

'Protecting civilian lives'

The agreement signed on Sunday included the Kurdish administration's immediate handover of Arab-majority Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces to the government, which will also take responsibility for IS prisoners and their families held in Kurdish-run jails and camps.

The SDF had seized swathes of the provinces as they expelled the jihadists during Syria's civil war with the support of an international coalition led by the United States.

A defence ministry map released by state media on Monday showed the government controlled all of Deir Ezzor and Raqa provinces, while the eastern parts of Hasakeh province were still under Kurdish control.

An AFP correspondent in Raqa said security forces deployed in the main square while a military convoy passed through the city as sporadic gunfire rang out, and residents toppled a statue of a woman erected by Kurdish forces.

Raqa resident Khaled al-Afnan, 34, said "we support Kurdish civil rights... but we don't support them having a military role."

"This deal is important for protecting civilian lives," he told AFP.

The army and the SDF traded accusations of carrying out several attacks, while authorities announced a curfew in Hasakeh province's Shadadi after the army said the SDF released IS detainees from the town's prison.

The Kurds instead accused Damascus of attacking the facility and said it had "fallen outside the control of our forces".

AFP was unable to immediately verify the claims.

An interior ministry statement expressed readiness to "take over the management and security" of IS prisons in Hasakeh and for "direct coordination with the US side" to prevent the return of "terrorism".

'Serious doubts'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Damascus who is hostile to the SDF, hailed the Syrian army for its "careful" offensive despite what he called "provocations".

The SDF on Sunday withdrew from areas under its control in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside, including the Al-Omar oil field, the country's largest, and the Tanak field.

Local fighters from tribes in the Arab-majority province sided with Damascus and seized the areas before the arrival of government forces.

Some Arab tribes were previously allied with the SDF, which included a significant Arab component.

An energy ministry official told state television on Monday that technical teams were heading to recently taken oil facilities to assess their condition.

The SDF's Abdi said Sunday he agreed to the deal to avoid civil war and end a conflict "imposed" on the Kurds.

Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, said the government's advance had raised "serious doubts about the durability" of the ceasefire and a March agreement between the government and the Kurds.

Sharaa had on Friday issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition, but the Kurds said it fell short of their expectations.

In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, activist Hevi Ahmed, 40, said Sunday's deal was "a disappointment after years of hope that the Syrian constitution might contain a better future for the Kurds."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)