Syrian rebel leader vows to shut down notorious prisons

SYRIAN rebel forces have said they intend to close the notoriously harsh prisons run by ousted president Bashar al-Assad and hunt those involved in the killing or torture of detainees, Reuters reported.

Rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, also said he would dissolve the security forces of the former regime.

Videos showing thousands of prisoners being freed from Saydnaya prison - referred to as a "human slaughterhouse" by rights groups - surfaced after the collapse of the Assad government on Sunday.

Almost 60,000 people were tortured and killed in the prisons run by the Syrian dictator, UK-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.