Associated Press
In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, residents of the besieged Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp wait to leave the camp, on the southern edge of the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. Over the past six days the U.N. continued to distribute food parcels in the Palestinian camp where activists say at least 85 people have died as a result of lack of food and medicine since mid-2013. (AP Photo/SANA)
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say opposition fighters have seized large parts of the central prison in the city of Aleppo, freeing hundreds of prisoners there.
For months, the prison has been caught in the deadly stalemate of Syria’s civil war. It is estimated to have around 4,000 prisoners.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several hundred prisoners were freed by the rebels on Thursday. The anti-government Aleppo Media Center confirmed rebels had seized most of the prison.
However, state-run Syrian television said the army foiled an attempt by “terrorist groups” to attack the prison.
