At Least 20 Escape Syria Prison Holding ISIS Inmates after Quake

At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria after the devastating earthquake that had its epicenter in southwestern Türkiye, the government and rescuers said. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP
At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria after the devastating earthquake that had its epicenter in southwestern Türkiye, the government and rescuers said. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP
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At Least 20 Escape Syria Prison Holding ISIS Inmates after Quake

At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria after the devastating earthquake that had its epicenter in southwestern Türkiye, the government and rescuers said. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP
At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria after the devastating earthquake that had its epicenter in southwestern Türkiye, the government and rescuers said. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Prisoners mutinied in a northwestern Syria prison Monday following a deadly earthquake, with at least 20 escaping the jail holding mostly ISIS group members, a source at the facility told AFP.

The military police prison in the town of Rajo near the Turkish border holds about 2,000 inmates, with about 1,300 of them suspected to be ISIS fighters, said the source.

The prison also holds fighters from Kurdish-led forces, said AFP.

"After the earthquake struck, Rajo was affected and inmates started to mutiny and took control of parts of the prison," said the official at Rajo jail, which is controlled by pro-Turkish factions.

"About 20 prisoners fled... who are believed to be ISIS militants."

The 7.8-magnitude quake -- which was followed by dozens of aftershocks in the region -- caused damage to the prison, with walls and doors cracking, the source added.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said it could not verify whether prisoners had escaped, but confirmed there was a mutiny.

At least 1,444 people died Monday across Syria after the devastating earthquake that had its epicenter in southwestern Türkiye, the government and rescuers said.

In rebel-held parts of the country's northwest, at least 733 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured, according to the White Helmets rescue group.

The incident in Rajo comes on the heels of an ISIS attack in December on a security complex in their former de facto Syrian capital of Raqa, which aimed to free fellow militants from a prison there.

Six members of the Kurdish-led security forces that control the area were killed in the foiled assault.

The conflict in Syria started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful protests and escalated to pull in foreign powers and global fighters.

Nearly half a million people have been killed, and the conflict has forced around half of the country's pre-war population from their homes, with many seeking refuge in Türkiye.



Israeli Fire Kills 23 People in Gaza, Many at Aid Site

Two Palestinians ride a small boat at the seafront next to a tent camp in the Gaza City port, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Two Palestinians ride a small boat at the seafront next to a tent camp in the Gaza City port, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Israeli Fire Kills 23 People in Gaza, Many at Aid Site

Two Palestinians ride a small boat at the seafront next to a tent camp in the Gaza City port, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Two Palestinians ride a small boat at the seafront next to a tent camp in the Gaza City port, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli fire and airstrikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, most of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, local health authorities said.

Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in central Gaza areas, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the Netzarim corridor.

The rest were killed in separate attacks across the enclave, they added. There has been no immediate comment by the Israeli military or the GHF on Saturday's incidents, Reuters reported.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, overseeing a new model of aid distribution which the United Nations says is neither impartial nor neutral.

The Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday at least 274 people have so far been killed, and more than 2,000 wounded, near aid distribution sites since the GHF began operations in Gaza.

Later on Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of Khan Younis and the nearby towns of Abassan and Bani Suhaila in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and head west towards the so-called humanitarian zone area, saying it would forcefully work against "terror organizations" in the area.