Syrian rebels free 300 prisoners from a jail near Turkey

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Idlib Central Prison syriaSyrian opposition fighters have freed about 300 prisoners from a jail near the border with Turkey and found 30 others shot in the head, an opposition activist said on Saturday. Fighters from various brigades have been attacking the Idlib Central Prison for the last three days.

They took over one of its two main buildings late on Friday and are surrounding the second building, which is located on a hilltop and is better defended, activist Abu Ali said. Video footage showed rebels leading prisoners away from the jail amid the sound of automatic gunfire and chants of “God is greater”.

Others were shown inside the building looking for prisoners. “Thirty bodies of prisoners were found shot in the head by their jailers before they escaped to adjacent olive groves,” Ali said by phone from the scene.

“Those found alive and freed were mostly political prisoners jailed since the start of the revolt. They have been without food for 2-3 days. Their jailers didn’t have time to feed them, or didn’t want to,” he added.

He said dozens of security personnel were killed or wounded in the attack, as well as several fighters. Government jets bombed the lower building area shortly after the prisoners were released.

The prison is located on the western outskirts of Idlib, 330 km (205 miles) northwest of Damascus. The city is among the last few areas in the province still controlled by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the country’s civil war.

Syrian authorities have jailed tens of thousands of people since the start of the uprising against Assad 22 months ago. Most are being held without trial, according to human rights defenders. A large proportion of prisoners are held in underground secret police dungeons and the fate of many is unknown.

IDN

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8 responses to “Syrian rebels free 300 prisoners from a jail near Turkey”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Eventually …. all.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Eventually …. all.

  3. Prophettttt Avatar
    Prophettttt

    Three hundred more criminals ,including rapists, murderers, and robbers added to the pot being used to bake freedom and democracy for the Syrian people.. Great “revolution” this is!!!!!

    It is an insult to human intelligence for any one to expect us to believe that the Assad regime is holding “political prisoners” in a jail so close to the Turkish border.If they were political prisoners,they would have been moved long time ago to where the regime could secure their imprisonment.

    It’s well understood that in wars, propaganda is a legitimate tool,but at least use a propaganda that can be believed by at lease 50% of the people. Good practice for democratic values.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      Yes, they should not be attacking the jails … better to vet the prisoners after the end of the regime, so that real criminal minds are still accounted for.
      And yet, the number of people who have been ‘disappeared’ and suffer in these places for no other reason than speaking up in a street is rather staggering. The passion to free them is overriding rationality – as happens in all revolutions – whether driven by propaganda or not.

    2. Most of Syria’s nonviolent political offenders were released in a deal that allowed most Iranians held captive by the rebels to escape. It is highly unlikely that these were political prisoners. BTW, given the huge defeats for the rebels around Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and other cities recently, it is possible that this event never occurred.

  4. Prophettttt Avatar
    Prophettttt

    Three hundred more criminals ,including rapists, murderers, and robbers added to the pot being used to bake freedom and democracy for the Syrian people.. Great “revolution” this is!!!!!

    It is an insult to human intelligence for any one to expect us to believe that the Assad regime is holding “political prisoners” in a jail so close to the Turkish border.If they were political prisoners,they would have been moved long time ago to where the regime could secure their imprisonment.

    It’s well understood that in wars, propaganda is a legitimate tool,but at least use a propaganda that can be believed by at lease 50% of the people. Good practice for democratic values.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar

      Yes, they should not be attacking the jails … better to vet the prisoners after the end of the regime, so that real criminal minds are still accounted for.
      And yet, the number of people who have been ‘disappeared’ and suffer in these places for no other reason than speaking up in a street is rather staggering. The passion to free them is overriding rationality – as happens in all revolutions – whether driven by propaganda or not.

    2. Most of Syria’s nonviolent political offenders were released in a deal that allowed most Iranians held captive by the rebels to escape. It is highly unlikely that these were political prisoners. BTW, given the huge defeats for the rebels around Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and other cities recently, it is possible that this event never occurred.

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