Dozens of Prisoners Freed in Syria’s Palmyra as ISIL Advances

Islamic State militants have freed dozens of inmates from the state prison in the city of Palmyra, Syria, following the fall of the city to the militants, Syria News portal reported Thursday.

BEIRUT (Sputnik) — According to the news portal, the jihadists say they have released, among others, some 27 citizens of Lebanon, including five Christians, who spent more than 35 years in jail.

On Wednesday night, following a week of fighting, ISIL seized the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria. Palmyra is one of the most important cultural and archaeological sites in the Middle East. A majority of Palmyra's population and many of the more valuable and portable artifacts were evacuated before government forces withdrew from the city.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), Islamic State group now controls more than 50 percent of the country of Syria.

ISIL regularly frees prisoners in cities they capture. Earlier this week it was reported that the group released some 400 inmates, including known terrorist leaders, from a prison in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.