Turkish rescuers search Syria's infamous Sednaya prison

A team of Turkish rescuers began an in-depth search of Syria's infamous Sednaya prison, a spokesman for Türkiye's AFAD disaster management agency told AFP.

Located just north of Damascus, the prison has become a symbol of the rights abuses of the Assad regime, especially since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011.

Prisoners held inside the complex, which was the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, were freed early last week by the rebels who ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad on December 8.

Disaster And Emergency Management Presidency(AFAD) said on Monday it had sent a team of nearly 80 people to conduct a search-and-rescue operation to "find people thought to be trapped in Sednaya military prison".

The complex is thought to descend several levels underground, fuelling suspicion more prisoners could be being held in as yet undiscovered hidden cells.

But, the Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison (ADMSP) believes the rumours are unfounded.

AFAD said the team, which is specialised in "heavy" urban search and rescue operations, would work with "advanced search and rescue devices", the Anadolu news agency reported.

The prison complex was thoroughly searched by Syria's White Helmets emergency workers but they wrapped up their operations on Tuesday, saying they were unable to find any more prisoners.

Rescuers have punched holes in walls to investigate rumours of secret levels housing missing prisoners, but found nothing, leaving many thousands of families disappointed – their relatives are probably dead and may never be found.

ADMSP said the rebels freed more than 4,000 prisoners from Sednaya, which Amnesty International has described as a "human slaughterhouse".

The organisation, which is based in southern Türkiye, believes more than 30,000 prisoners died there as a result of execution, torture, starvation or a lack of medical care between 2011 and 2018.