ALEPPO, Syria — A new prisoner swap deal between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian government was conducted May 17 at al-Eis crossing separating the Syrian opposition areas from those held by the government in the southern countryside of Aleppo.

In the presence of representatives of the Syrian Red Crescent, the regime forces exchanged 27 prisoners for nine HTS detainees.

“The regime released 22 women and five men hailing from different Syrian governorates — mainly from Homs, and some from Hama, Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Latakia and Damascus. They were arrested over the past years by Syrian government security forces on charges of supporting or belonging to the Syrian opposition,” a source from the HTS prisoners affairs office told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

“Meanwhile, HTS released two women and seven men, who are members of the regime forces and were captured years ago in the city of Aleppo during the fighting. Negotiations through intermediaries between officials of the HTS prisoners affairs office and Syrian forces took place for about a month prior to the deal. Eventually we were able to seal the deal despite the regime’s attempts to decide on the names of the detainees to be released,” the source said.