20 convicted terrorists escape Syria prison after earthquake

Civil defense workers and security forces search through the wreckage of collapsed buildings in Hama, Syria on February 6, 2023. [Courtesy of AP]

Prisoners mutinied in a northwestern Syria prison Monday following a deadly earthquake, with at least 20 escaping the jail holding mostly Islamic State 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 IS fighters, said the source.