Syrian Kurdish-led authorities release 33 accused IS collaborators after tribal mediation

Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria on Sunday released 33 detainees suspected of collaborating with the Islamic State group, after mediation efforts by prominent tribal leaders from the eastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor.

The detainees were released after it was announced that they "had no blood on their hands", the Hawar News Agency, which is affiliated with the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES) reported.

The AANES’ military affiliate, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), handed over the released detainees to their families.

Thee release "is a normal matter, as new batches are released from time to time," Dr Hussein Azzam, co-leader of diplomatic relations for the AANES-linked Syrian Democratic Council, told The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

"The majority have served all or most of their sentences," Azzam said.

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Some 60 detainees were released by the SDF at the start of April from Deir Ezzor.

AANES said earlier this month it would begin trying thousands of suspected foreign IS fighters who have been its custody for years following the international community's lagging response to the situation.

The US-backed administration holds around 10,000 suspected IS detainees who fled the last bastions held by the militant group in Syria from 2017-19. The SDF spearheaded the battle to drive out the extremists.

The SDC's Azzam explained that upcoming trials will be for foreign IS members only.

IS sleeper cells mainly holed up in the Syrian Desert continue to carry out deadly attacks targeting Kurdish forces, Syrian regime forces and civilians.