Syrian rebels have taken control of a prison outside the city where the uprising began three years ago and freed dozens of inmates, activists said Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that opposition fighters took control of the Gharaz Central Prison on the outskirts of Deraa, near Syria’s border with Jordan after fierce clashes with troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, Reuters reported.
Videos were posted online shortly after the incident showing people who described themselves as fighters touring the grounds of the prison and embracing freed prisoners.
"God give life to the Free Syrian Army," men chanted in one video, referring to anti-Assad rebel fighters. Another video showed four bodies of what were said to be pro-Assad soldiers. "This is the fate of all tyrants," the man filming said.
Battles for control of the prison had been wages for more than 50 days before opposition fighters finally took it on Wednesday morning, Abdulrahman of the Observatory told Reuters, adding that six rebel fighters had been killed yesterday in the fighting.
