ALEPPO
Syrian rebels said Tuesday that they would trade captured Syrian soldiers for Syrian opposition fighters held by Bashar Assad’s regime.
The Liwa al-Twahid group in the Syrian city of Aleppo has captured 34 Alawite soldiers in clashes with regime forces over the last three years.
The Liwa al-Twahid spokesman, Salih Anadani, told a correspondent for the Anadolu Agency in Aleppo that the group wanted to arrange a deal to exchange the soldiers they hold for women prisoners held by the regime.
Ali Hasan, one of the captured regime soldiers, told AA that Syrian soldiers had been fighting on the front lines, yet Iranian and Lebanese hostages had been freed before them in prisoner trades.
“The priority for the hostage swap should be given to the soldiers who fought in Syria," Hasan said. "We are still captive here. The regime must act immediately for a hostage deal if they want to rescue us.”
Mahmud Salim, who worked for the Political Security Directorate in Raqqa before he was captured, sent a message to his family saying he was alright and hoped to see them soon.
“We fought the regime opponents for more than one year," Salim said. "Why the regime does not take care of us?”
Another captured soldier, Ala Suheyl Nakit, said he was badly injured in a clash with the rebel groups.
“I recovered with the help of the opposition,” he said.
Under a deal brokered by Turkey and Qatar, the Assad regime agreed to free 2,130 prisoners in exchange for 48 Iranians held by Syrian rebels.
The United Nations has said that 3.5 million people have been internally displaced since the conflict erupted since the conflice began three years ago, and 2.5 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries. The vast majority of those refugees have fled to Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq.
In Lebanon, there are more than 960,000 refugees, Turkey has around 634,000, Iraq has 584,500, and Egypt has 300,000 refugees.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
