An alliance of Syrian rebels including Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar Al-Sham, Army of the Muhajireen announced the battle to attack the Aleppo Central Prison in Syria. Syrian rebels claimed to have seized part of a major prison facility outside the country's commercial capital of Aleppo and freed some prisoners amid intense clashes. The Syrian sources cite otherwise and have shown that they are still in full control of the prison. A source inside the prison told As-Safir that the attack on the prison was the heaviest so far but that the prison didn't fall. The source said that the prison was attacked from three sides. It began when a truck laden with more than 20 tons of explosives and driven by a suicide bomber who tried to approach the prison. Prison security men saw the truck coming and hit it with RPG rounds. The truck exploded about a hundred meters from the prison's door. "The intensity of the blast destroyed the headquarters of the prison protection unit, killing two officers and wounding 10 unit members," the source said. The source added, "After the truck explosion, there was a violent attack by three tanks that targeted the first and second prison towers with about 15 shells, killing five prisoners and injuring 10. In conjunction with the tank attack, attackers opened fire with heavy machine guns at the prison from six different points, leading to severe damage to the prison building." After about two hours from the start of battle, which began at about 10 a.m., gunmen managed to get close to the prison entrance, where violent clashes took place. The source explained, "Afterward, warplanes intervened and targeted the rear lines of the attackers while prison security elements repelled the attack from the inside, which put the [attackers] in a pincer, where violent clashes took place and lasted till 4 p.m. Afterward, the attackers pulled back from all axes and the attack stopped." Various outlets including the video show the the killing of Saifullah al-Chichani, who led the unit that stormed the prison. The number of dead and wounded among the attackers is not yet accurately known because the attackers failed to declare the full results of the attack. Another leader in the Aleppo prison battle was Muslim al-Chichani, the emir of Junud al-Sham, which consists entirely of Chechens and is based in the north Latakia countryside. Muslim al-Chichani is considered one of the most prominent military minds among the leaders of the Islamist brigades and factions due to his previous experience in both Afghanistan and the Caucasus. Saifullah al-Chichani, whose real name is Rislan Mashalikashvili, fought in Chechnya, where he was injured. He left Chechnya for treatment but could not return. He thought of going to Iraq but didn't find a way to do that. So he went to Afghanistan in 2005, where he fought US forces and stayed in the Kabylie region for a while. When the Syrian crisis started, he decided to go to Syria and contribute to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate. In Syria, he led the Army of the Caliphate, which consisted of about 500 Chechen fighters. At the end of 2013, Saifullah pledged allegiance to Jabhat al-Nusra and declared that he and all his fighters and weapons were joining. He participated in many battles in Syria, the most important of which was the battle to control the Aleppo neighborhood of Sheikh Said and the battle of al-Kindi hospital. It is noteworthy that Saifullah was a close friend of Dokka Umarov, the emir of the Caucasus emirate. Map Of Aleppo Central Prison: http://adf.ly/deYvI Like Our Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/1h2gWju Subscribe To WarClashes: http://bit.ly/1jNCmDm

• published: 16 Feb 2014
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