ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish man was finally found in the infamous Sednaya prison near Damascus after disappearing from the border town of Suruc (Pirsus) in Turkey’s Sanliurfa province over five years ago.
Aydin Dagac disappeared in Suruc five years and six months ago. Until now, there had been no information about him, but he was found and freed by rebels led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) when they broke into prisons after ousting Bashar al-Assad.
The experience has left him severely traumatized. His mother, Nayide Dagac, describes him as someone with a mental illness. His time there left him suffering from PTSD and his mental illness has worsened.
At his family home, Dagac wanders as if he is still in prison, moving from one corner to another and unable to accept reality - that he is free.
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and culminating their victory by capturing the capital Damascus as Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.