Syrian government says it has freed 672 prisoners

The Syrian government claimed on Saturday it had released 672 prisoners, as a part of a “reconciliation process.”

Reconciliation is used by the Syrian regime to refer to deals with local rebels, where the rebels agree to either disarm, accept the governments authority or leave with smaller arms to other insurgent areas.

The released prisoners promised they would accept the state’s authority.

Syria’s Justice Minister Hisham al-Shaar said the majority of the prisoners were from the capitol city Damascus, according to Reuters.

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“They have been released after promising not to do anything against the nation’s security or stability,” al-Shaar said.

Some of the prisoners released told Reuters they arrested for taking various actions against the regime.

The news comes as the Trump administration has intensified military actions taken against the embattled regime.

U.S. forces have trained various local Syrian partner forces in the region.

Last week the military shot down a Syrian jet, which the U.S. said was firing on partnered local forces.

The U.S. fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria in April, in response to the regime’s chemical attack on its own citizens.