BEIRUT: Eight people were killed in a mutiny at a prison in Syria’s second city of Aleppo during the night, the opposition Syrian National Council said yesterday.
Security forces “opened fire with bullets and tear gas on the detainees at Aleppo central prison in response to a peaceful sit-in organised by prisoners because of the great injustice of which they are victims,” the SNC said in a statement.
“Eight people were martyred and a fire broke out inside the prison.”
The statement said regime forces had fired on the prison from helicopters as the fire raged inside, preventing help from arriving at the facility.
Aleppo has been the scene of fierce fighting since Friday, with the country’s second city emerging as the new front in the battle between rebel fighters and the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog group said clashes raged through the night, with heavy fighting reported in several neighbourhoods and at least four people killed, including one rebel fighter. — AFP