The Islamic State group blew up a major prison complex in the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Saturday, according to a group monitoring the war, destroying an important symbol of government control in the jihadi-held city.
The prison was empty of people at the time of the detonation, said Rami Abdulrahman from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Islamic State announced the explosion in a statement on social media and supporters posted pictures of huge clouds of gray smoke above the sprawling complex in the city, also known as Tadmur.
Syrian state media did not mention the explosion.