US-led air strike kills 57 in IS-held prison

At least 57 inmates and guards were killed when a US-led air strike targeted a prison under Islamic State control in eastern Syria, a monitor group said on Tuesday.

The air strike hit the prison in the city of Mayadeen in Syria's eastern province of Deir al-Zour on Monday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Xinhua news agency reported.

It added that the prison used to be a house for one of the leaders of the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. It was captured by the IS and turned into a prison, half of it for IS militants imprisoned by the group itself, while the other half is for civilians captured by the IS.

 

The UK-based watchdog group said the toll in the strike could rise as there were many critically wounded people. Around 100 inmates were imprisoned in that jail, said the Observatory.

--IANS

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