Assad-era subterranean torture dungeon discovered in Syria's Homs province

Syrian security officials on Monday discovered a secret underground prison used by the now-ousted Assad regime to torture and detain dissidents, Syrian state media have reported.

The harrowing dungeon was uncovered in the eastern countryside of Homs, according to the SANA news agency, where a series of underground detention facilities have been discovered since the fall of the Assad regime.

It was reportedly found 10 days ago when police patrols were carrying out searches into locations suspected of being the site of secret prisons in the area, the agency said.

"Internal Security Forces in the Al-Mukhram area in the eastern Homs countryside found an underground prison north of the village of Buwaydah al-Salamiyah, which was used by the former regime during the revolution to detain civilians," the official news agency reported.

Omar al-Moussa, the deputy director of Homs province's Al-Mukharram district, said the prison was an underground hideout with a locked iron door. Police found equipment such as foam mattresses, wool blankets, and torture tools such as sticks and ropes. The site is also connected to a tunnel five metres deep and 40 metres long.

"[It contained] books and publications intended for militias supported by the former regime," according to Al-Moussa.

Al-Moussa stressed that security services are making "every effort to maintain the security and stability of the district, and will firmly confront any attempts that threaten the security and safety of citizens".

This comes after a mass grave was uncovered earlier this month in the same area of Homs province, after residents raised the issue of suspicious burial sites with local authorities. 

In September, security forces in Homs province located another underground prison in an agricultural area near the village of Abu Hakfa, which had been used by the National Defence Forces - a Syrian militia coalition created to support Assad during the war.

Following the ouster of the Baathist regime in December, the Syrian interim government pledged to uncover and close all prisons used for torture against civilians during the country's brutal 14-year conflict, which killed over half a million Syrians, the vast majority civilians in opposition areas.

Syrian authorities have also vowed to hold to account officers who were working in such facilities.

Thousands of Syrians, including activists and political detainees, are thought to have been tortured and killed in such prisons. Among the most notorious jails is Saydnaya Prison, which was captured by rebels and closed in December 2024, during the offensive which toppled the now-fallen regime.