Damascus denies using crematorium in Syrian prison

Syria's Foreign Ministry denied on Tuesday a recent U.S. report that the Syrian authorities are using crematorium to hide mass killing in a military prison near capital Damascus.

In a statement, the military said the accusations by the U.S. administration about the incidents in Saydnaya prison, or the use of barrel bombs and chemical weapons allegations are all baseless.

The consecutive U.S. administrations have been keen to make up lies to justify their aggressive policies toward Syria and other countries, said the ministry, calling the prison crematorium accusations as a "new Hollywood narrative that is totally detached from reality."

A day earlier, Stuart Jones, the acting U.S. assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, said the crematorium could be used to dispose of bodies from Saydnaya.

"We believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison," said Jones.

The U.S. state department also released satellite footages, showing what it called a new building in the prison's complex that is apparently modified to support crematorium.

It wasn't the first time foreign reports speak about Saydnaya.

In February, the Amnesty International accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out mass hangings in the same prison, adding that around 13,000 people have been hanged in the notorious prison since the eruption of the Syrian war in 2011.

In a later interview with the Yahoo News, al-Assad said such reports were baseless and lack evidence. Endit