Syria pardons 85 militants in Aleppo

News reports said on Thursday that the National Reconciliation Committee pardoned the anti-government militants, who had earlier turned themselves in to Syrian authorities in the northern city.

They were freed after promising not to engage in any activity that would endanger security in the Arab country in the future.

According to a report, more than 700 foreign-sponsored militants fighting the Syrian government have already turned themselves in to authorities in various parts of Syria.

As many as 525 militants, from Daraa, Sweida, Damascus, Homs, Qunaitera, Hama, Lattakia, Deir Ezzor, Idlib and Raqqa, surrendered their weapons to the Syrian army on Monday, Syria’s news agency SANA reported.

According to the report, 180 other militants from the al-Zabadani area in the countryside of the Syrian capital, Damascus, also laid down their arms.

In April, around 100 foreign-sponsored militants from two areas in the countryside of Damascus turned themselves in to the Syrian army.

Syria has been grappling with a deadly crisis since March 2011.

More than 200,000 people have been killed so far in the conflict in Syria, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein.

The Western powers and some of their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey – are reportedly supporting the militants