Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced on Monday a “general amnesty” for prisoners in the country, the country’s state television said, without giving any further details.

The decree was issued in the context of "social forgiveness, national cohesion calls for coexistence, as the army secures several military victories," the channel said, citing Justice Minister Najem al-Ahmad.

It was not clear how many, if any, prisoners will be freed.

The report Monday by the state-run SANA news agency did not say if the amnesty would apply to the tens of thousands of opposition supporters and their relatives that activists say are held in the country.

SANA's report suggested it would reduce prisoners' sentences without freeing them. Government officials could not be immediately reached to explain the decision.

Syria has been gripped by deadly fighting between rebels and Assad’s government forces for over the past three years. The conflict has left 160,000 dead, and displaced more than two million others.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)