Syrian forces release 126 minors from former SDF-run prison in Raqqa

2026-01-25 - 21:06

RAQQA, Syria — Syrian security forces on Saturday released 126 inmates, all under the age of 18, from Al-Aqtan prison in northeastern Raqqa province, a facility previously run by the YPG/SDF, according to Alikhbaria Syria TV. Citing an unnamed security source, the channel said internal security forces freed the minors as part of state efforts to reassert authority over the area. Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said in a post on X that footage released by the Syrian Arab News Agency showed the detainees being released. “These children are not merely detainees; they are sons and daughters whose childhoods were stolen,” al-Mustafa said. “They should have been in schools and playgrounds, not behind prison walls.” He added that no justification could explain the detention of children, describing their imprisonment as a violation of human conscience. Presidential spokesman Ahmed Muaffaq Zaidan described the detention of minors as a “full-fledged scandal” carried out by armed groups operating outside the law. On Friday, the Justice Ministry announced it had officially taken over Al-Aqtan prison following the withdrawal of SDF elements, as part of steps to restore state institutions and enforce the rule of law. The Interior Ministry said it has begun reviewing the detainees’ files. The Syrian Army said its units had started transferring SDF elements from the prison and its surroundings in Raqqa to Ayn al-Arab, east of Aleppo, marking the first phase of implementing a Jan. 18 agreement enabling the government to assume control of the facility.