Nearly 13,000 Detainees Killed in Assad Government Prison

Nearly 13,000 people were executed in a government-run prison in Syria according to a new Amnesty International report, BBC News reported.

Mass hangings took place every week in Saydnaya prison outside Damascus between September 2011 and December 2015. The highest levels of the Syrian government allegedly authorized the weekly executions of the prisoners, who were mostly civilian opposition.

A previous report by Amnesty in August estimated nearly 17,723 people killed in government custody, not counting the numbers from Saydnaya. The government has previously denied killing or mistreating detainees. According to Amnesty, the death sentences were approved by the Grand Mufti and either the defense minister or the army’s chief of staff. The executions were carried out after “trials” in military “field courts,” and the bodies were reportedly transferred to the Tishreen Military Hospital and then buried in mass graves on military property.

Trump Has Promising Priorities, Assad Says

Trump’s priorities are promising, said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in comments published by state-run news agency SANA on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Defeating the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) is a core goal of Trump’s presidency, and he has tasked the Pentagon, the joint chiefs of staff and others to come up with a plan on how to do so in 30 days. Trump has also suggested cutting off support to rebels fighting against Assad and focusing on targeting ISIS.

“I believe this is promising but we have to wait and it’s too early to expect anything practical,” Assad said.

Al-Bab Beseiged From All Sides, Monitor Says

The so-called Islamic State is “completely besieged” in al-Bab according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Agence France-Presse reported.

Located in the eastern Aleppo countryside, al-Bab is the jihadist group’s last significant stronghold in Aleppo province. Advancing pro-government forces have completed the siege on al-Bab, cutting off the road connecting al-Bab to ISIS’s capital, Raqqa.

“Al-Bab is now completely besieged by the regime from the south, and the Turkish forces and rebels from the east, north and west,” the SOHR said.

Turkish-backed forces from the operation known as Euphrates Shield have been advancing slowly toward al-Bab since December. Government and allied militias made quick advances toward the border town last week in an effort to limit Turkey’s influence in northern Syria.

RECOMMENDED READS

• Amnesty International: Human Slaughterhouse: Mass Hangings and Extermination at Saydnaya Prison, Syria
• The National: Jordan Ponders a Change of Course on Syria
• Foreign Policy: In Syria, Trump Faces a Tough Balancing Act Between Turks and Kurds
• The Washington Post: Putin and Assad Could Face Justice for War Crimes in Syria
• Al Jazeera: Besieged South Damascus ‘Wants Truce Not War’