Rival sides in Aleppo swap prisoners and bodies in one of largest exchanges of war

The Syrian government and rebels swapped dozens of prisoners and the bodies of dead fighters in Aleppo on Tuesday in what is thought to be one of the largest exchanges to take place since the war began more than five years ago.

The prisoner swap was overseen by the Syrian Red Crescent and took some 18 months to coordinate. It saw opposition forces return the bodies of 70 pro-government fighters killed during the previous two years of fighting, while the government handed over 11 bodies.

Footage filmed during the exchange by local pro-opposition news site Thiqa showed members of the Red Crescent standing in the back of a pick-up truck piled with black plastic body bags on the outskirts of Aleppo, which has been the scene of some of the fiercest fighting in recent months.

The rebels, described as being from the Free Syrian Army (FSA), also handed back a group of 25 people, including pro-government fighters and several civilians from Zahraa and Nubl, two towns that were besieged by the FSA for nearly four years until they were recaptured following a government offensive this February.

The men handed over by the rebels, interviewed by Thiqa, appeared to range in age from their early twenties to their sixties.

In total, the exchange involved nearly 120 people, both dead and alive. 

After the rebels were handed over, footage showed them embracing and crying, some kissing the ground as commanders fired Kalashnikovs into the air.

Some said they had been detained in government prisons since their capture during fighting near Aleppo three years earlier.

Talks held in Geneva broke up with little progress on Tuesday - Russia and the US agreed to try to strengthen the ceasefire, but the United Nations is yet to name a date for a fresh round of negotiations.

Despite an apparent stalemate on the international level, small-scale prisoner swaps have been taking place on a local level throughout the war.

Last month, the government agreed an exchange with Syrian Kurdish groups in an attempt to keep alive a truce that ended a rare outbreak of violence between Syrian Kurdish fighters and pro-government troops in the north-eastern city of Qamishli.

The exchange included unknown numbers of people captured and injured in the fighting, as well as Syrian Kurds held in government prisons since before 2011.