Following a catastrophic earthquake on Monday, inmates in a prison in northwest Syria rebelled, and at least 20 of the inmates—most of them were members of the Islamic State group—escaped, a source at the facility told AFP.
Around 1,300 of the 2,000 prisoners housed in the military police prison in the town of Rajo, which is close to the Turkish border, are thought to be IS fighters, according to the source.
Additionally, fighters from groups led by Kurds are detained there.
“After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison,” said the official at Rajo jail, which is controlled by pro-Turkish factions.
“About 20 prisoners fled… who are believed to be IS militants.”
The prison sustained damage from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which was followed by numerous aftershocks in the area, with walls and doors cracking, the source stated.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, acknowledged that there had been a mutiny but claimed it was impossible to ascertain whether inmates had escaped.
