The Damascus government released three convicts, two men and a woman, from its prisons on March 26 under a new deal with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Two of the prisoners released by Damascus
In exchange for the release of the three prisoners, HTS provided the Damascus government with a map showing the locations of many graves around the Abu Duhur airbase in the southeastern Idlib countryside.
According to HTS’ news network, Iba’a, the graves contained the remains of several Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers who were killed during the clashes around the Abu Duhur airbase.
In September of 2015, a coalition of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, including HTS’ main core, captured the airbase after besieging it for more than 2 years. Once the attack ended, the terrorists executed dozens of Syrian service members and buried them in mass graves.
Omar Ottoman, an official in HTS, told Iba’a that the terrorist group and the Damascus government are still negotiating and claimed that the upcoming days may witness similar deals.
They should have executed the 3 and given back their bodies in exchange. Or better yet, executed them in front of HTS and dumped their bodies.