Getty ImagesAn American man held for months in a Syrian jail after getting into the nation on foot has described being freed by males armed with hammers as rebels toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The man – who later recognized himself as Travis Timmerman to US information channel CBS, a companion of the BBC – was discovered by residents close to the capital Damascus.
Footage posted on social media confirmed him mendacity on a settee whereas residents spoke to native journalists.
Mr Timmerman stated he was arrested when he entered the nation seven months in the past.
He was reported lacking in May, having final been seen within the Hungarian capital Budapest, in accordance with Missouri Highway Patrol and Hungarian authorities.
On Monday, the day after rebels took management of Damascus and overthrew Assad, Timmerman stated two males armed with hammers broke down his jail door.
It was “knocked down, it woke me up,” he stated.
“I assumed the guards had been nonetheless there, so I assumed the warfare might need been extra lively than it was…Once we acquired out, there was no resistance, there was no actual preventing.”
The 30-year-old stated he left jail with a big group of individuals and tried to achieve Jordan.
He stated he “had a number of moments of worry” when he left jail, including that since then he had been extra fearful about discovering a spot to sleep.
However, native individuals have been receptive to his requests for meals and help, he advised reporters.
“They got here to me, largely,” Timmerman stated
Thousands of prisoners have been launched since Assad’s fall on the weekend.
Footage confirmed males, girls and in some instances kids rising from overcrowded, windowless cells, usually disoriented and unaware of occasions outdoors.
However, Mr. Timmerman seems to have been handled comparatively effectively, telling CBS: “I really feel good. I’ve been fed and watered, so I really feel good.”
He added that he had used a cell phone throughout his detention and had spoken to his household three weeks in the past.
Speaking to US colleague NBC, Timmerman stated he had crossed the mountains between Lebanon and Syria on a “pilgrimage” and had “learn the Scriptures loads”.
He declined the chance to be put in contact with American officers.
Getty ImagesA US official advised NBC that Washington was “conscious of experiences of an American discovered outdoors Damascus and making an attempt to offer assist. Out of respect for his privateness, we’ve no additional info to offer at the moment.”
On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated the United States has requested Syria’s primary insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to assist find and free American journalist Austin Tice.
Tice, a contract journalist, is believed to have been captured close to Damascus on August 14, 2012 whereas overlaying the nation’s civil warfare. He was final seen in a video, blindfolded and apparently in misery, posted on-line weeks after his seize. The United States believes he was held captive by the Assad regime.
President Joe Biden said the United States believes Mr. Tice is alivehowever they need to find its location.
The Assad regime was recognized for its extraordinarily harsh prisons, with the UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimating that almost 60,000 individuals had been tortured and killed in prisons run by the deposed president.
The victorious insurgent forces have stated they intend to take action close Assad’s prisons and hunt down those involved within the killing or torture of prisoners.
“We will pursue them in Syria and ask nations at hand over those that fled so we will get justice,” stated insurgent chief Ahmed al-Sharaa, also called Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.
