ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – An underground prison used during the reign of the ousted Baath regime was discovered by Syrian internal security forces in the western province of Homs on Wednesday.

The prison was discovered “in an agricultural area near Abu Hakfa village in the northeastern countryside, which was used during the period of the ousted regime to detain civilians,” according to state media.

“The discovered site resembles an underground cave unfit for living, and was exploited for kidnapping women, men, and children to achieve financial and political gains,” Homs security official Marwan al-Sultan told state media.

The official added that search operations in the area are ongoing and there are expectations of finding “additional mass graves,” assuring that “all those involved in these crimes will be prosecuted legally.”

A local from the village claimed that the agricultural land belonged to a member of the Baath regime’s National Defense Forces militia, telling state media that the cave was found with an iron door and locks at its entrance, and “was used for torture and detention of civilians in exchange for a ransom.”

Since the collapse of the Baath regime in Syria in December 2024, a large number of human rights violations committed by the collapsed regime has come to light, including the mistreatment of political and dissent detainees in high security prisons, and the discovery of mass graves across the country.

The most infamous case is the Saydnaya Prison, known as a “human slaughterhouse,” where daily executions took place. Survivors describe enduring torture, humiliation, starvation and medical neglect in their testimonies.

More than 60,000 people are believed to have died under torture by the former regime, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

A mass grave in al-Qutayfah, 40 kilometers north of Damascus, reportedly holds the bodies of around 100,000 people.

Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, head of Syria’s National Commission for the Missing, said that between 120,000 and 300,000 individuals have gone missing during the rule of Hafez al-Assad and later his son Bashar al-Assad.

Reporting by Hevi Karam