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LONDON: Syrian authorities have arrested a former guard accused of involvement in torture and executions at Sednaya Prison, as part of their efforts to deliver justice for victims and hold officials of the Bashar Assad regime accountable for crimes against civilians.

The Interior Ministry on Thursday announced the capture of Mahmoud Ali Ahmad in Aleppo governorate, in the north of the country.

While at the prison Ahmad was part of a special security detachment and later assigned to its notorious Red Section, where political prisoners and opponents were held, tortured and killed.

He is accused of taking part in the torture and execution of prisoners and transporting and burying the bodies of victims in mass graves.

The ministry reiterated its commitment to pursuing all individuals implicated in human rights abuses during the Assad regime, which fell in December last year, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Amnesty International has described Sednaya Prison as a “human slaughterhouse,” where an estimated 30,000 people have been detained since 2011. Of those, only about 6,000 have been released, with the rest still missing.

Syria’s new authorities have initiated a process to close the prison near Damascus which was operated by the Ministry of Defense during the Assad era.

Since December they have invited several Western, UN and rights groups officials to visit the facility and witness the inhumane conditions that detainees endured.