Regime troops retook most of Aleppo Central Prison, after two days of fighting in which 46 people have been killed. The Al Nusrah Front and Ahrar al Sham are continuing to battle regime forces on the outskirts of the prison and have taken over its new buildings. Al Nusrah gave civilians 24 hours to stay away from regime headquarters and checkpoints in Aleppo that will be targeted. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham clashed with Islamist and rebel battalions in Tal Jijan in Aleppo. About 50 ISIS fighters reportedly tried to defect in Raqqah but were stopped by loyal members. As a three-day humanitarian ceasefire began in the besieged city of Homs, 83 civilians, consisting of children, women, and the elderly, were evacuated. Some 50 leading figures urged Russian President Putin to push for an “Olympic truce” in Syria. Al Nusrah released a video showing children being taught jihadist ideology in Damascus. A jihadist forum eulogized ISIS fighter Abu Abdul Rahman al-Iraqi a.k.a. “Shibl al-Zarqawi,” a seasoned jihadist who escaped from prison in Iraq in a mass ISIS jailbreak in July 2013.
