After the earthquake.. 20 prisoners have escaped from the prison of Rajo, in the north-west of Syria

On Monday, inmates of a prison in northwest Syria staged an uprising after a devastating earthquake hit theareaas at least 20 of them managed to escape from the facility housing the prisoners, most of them members of the Islamic State organization, a source at the prison told AFP. The military police prison is held in The city of Rajo, near the Turkish border, has about two thousand prisoners, of which about 1,300 are suspected of belonging to ISIS, according to the source. The prison also houses fighters of the Kurdish-led forces.

“After the earthquake, Rajo Jail was hit and tonight (…) a rebellion started by the prisoners who took over parts of the jail,” said the Rajo Jail official, controlled by pro-Turkish factions. . He added: “About 20 people have escaped from prison, according to initial estimates from the prison, and are believed to be ISIS prisoners.” The source stressed that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake was followed by dozens of aftershocks in the area, which caused cracks in the walls and doors of the prison.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights based in Britain said it could not verify whether the prisoners had escaped, but confirmed a mutiny. And the Syrian government and relief agencies announced that some 1,444 people were killed on Monday in Syria due to the devastating earthquake, which hit southwestern Turkey.

The White Helmets, which operate in northern areas beyond Damascus control, said 733 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured. Raju’s incident follows a December ISIS attack on a security complex in Raqqa, the capital of the former caliphate in Syria, with the aim of freeing fellow jihadists from a prison there. The failed attack killed six members of the Kurdish-led forces that control thearea. during the years of conflict in Syria, thousands of foreign fighters have joined the ranks of jihadist organizations in Syria, in particular to ISIS. Since 2011, Syria has witnessed a bloody conflict, which has claimed the lives of around half a million people, caused extensive damage to infrastructure and led to the displacement of millions of people inside and outside the country.