American citizen captured in Syria has been released and taken to Jordan. prison news

American citizen captured in Syria has been released and taken to Jordan. prison news

Travis Timmerman, 29, was captured in Syria in June after entering the country on a Christian pilgrimage.

United States officials have revealed that Travis Timmerman, a 29-year-old American citizen who disappeared into the Syrian prison system seven months ago, has been released and flown out of the country.

Citing unnamed government sources, news agencies Reuters and The Associated Press reported on Friday that Timerman had been flown to Jordan to meet with US officials.

Timerman had been missing since June, when he crossed into Syria near the eastern Lebanese town of Zahle.

Once in the country, he was imprisoned under the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But in recent weeks, Syrian opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebel group have moved increasingly aggressively southward, capturing key government strongholds and toppling al-Assad’s administration.

On December 8, al-Assad fled to Russia, ending his family’s more than half-century rule.

Timerman’s release comes as prisoners have been freed in the al-Assad government’s notorious prison system. Over the years, organizations such as Human Rights Watch have documented widespread torture, starvation, and disease inside detention facilities, leading to deaths in government custody.

Some Syrians have reportedly spent years, even decades, inside the walls of facilities, with no contact with the outside world.

However, Timerman told The Associated Press on Friday that he was not mistreated in the Syrian prison, where he is held in what is known as the Palestine branch. He reported that he was captured while on a Christian pilgrimage.

A US official told Reuters that Timerman had been taken to the al-Tanf military post in Syria, which is located near the border with Jordan and Iraq. From there, they were flown via helicopter to another US military base in Jordan.

While in prison, Timmerman says he had a mattress, a plastic drinking container, and two other containers for garbage disposal. In a video shared shortly after his release, Timerman indicated that rebels had used a hammer to break down his cell door and free him.

It’s unclear where he’ll go next. The AP reported that Timerman thanked those who released him from prison but told US officials he expected to remain in the Middle East.

The US continues to search for Austin Tice, a former Marine and freelance journalist who was abducted while reporting near the capital of Damascus in August 2012.

Tice was one of the first American journalists on the ground in Syria after the 2011 pro-democracy “Arab Spring” protests led to a brutal government crackdown and eventual civil war.

In the days following al-Assad’s fall, videos documenting appalling conditions in the government prison system have been widely shared. Many people have headed to the facilities in hopes of finding friends or loved ones who were detained or disappeared long ago.

Describing conditions at Sednaya prison near Damascus, Raed al-Saleh, director of the Syrian Civil Defense Organization – known as the White Helmets – called the facility “hell.”

White Helmets rescue workers are searching the facility to document human rights violations and free those inside. Al-Saleh told Al Jazeera on Monday that he believed executions were being carried out daily within the prison walls.

“This is a human slaughterhouse where human beings are being slaughtered and tortured,” al-Saleh said.

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