Syria news site reveals 'top-secret prison, chemical storage site' near Assad's palace

A Syrian news website has revealed details of an alleged top-secret prison and a chemical weapons storage facility close to the palace of President Bashar al-Assad.

Pro-opposition Zaman al-Wasl published the report on Wednesday, giving details of the purported underground sites in the vicinity of the people's palace in Damascus.

The report cited an anonymous source, who worked on building the locations during his mandatory military service in the early 2000s.

"The secret Tahoun prison, which was built 20 metres under the ground, began to operate at the end of 2002," the report said.

The report said Tahoun prison is located behind the General Organisation of Radio and TV in central Damasus and overlooks Mezzeh Military Airport.

"The prison's main purpose was to serve as a specialised centre to detain members of the elite Presidential Guard, who had exhibited suspicious behaviour," it claimed.

The outlet provided a detailed model of the prison, which has around 40 cells and a section for solitary confinement cells.

The source also detailed what he said was a separate storage tunnel, which he said was used to store chemical weapons and ammunition.

"In this tunnel, I saw a number of North Korean experts, who had come to oversee the installation of air-suction devices," he said.

The investigative news site published aerial photography of the alleged sites.

The New Arab cannot independently verify the claims.

Earlier this year, Zaman al-Wasl  released a massive released a searchable database of 1.5 million people reportedly wanted by the regime.

The list was part of a trove of 1.7 million government documents leaked by Damascus-based sources in 2015.