American Travis Timmerman flown out of Syria after release from prison

[ad_1] Travis Timmerman, the American who stated he was free of a Syrian jail amid the downfall of ousted President Bashar al-Assad 's dictatorship, was taken in a foreign country by the U.S. army, a U.S. protection official confirmed to CBS Information on Friday.

Timmerman, 29, who disappeared into Syria's infamous jail system about seven months in the past, was taken to the Al Tanf U.S. army base after which flown out of Syria by way of helicopter and handed over to the U.S. State Division. A second protection official advised CBS Information he was flown to Jordan.

Mouaz Moustafa, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Syrian Emergency Process Pressure who labored with rebels to rearrange Timmerman's switch again to security, shared a photograph of the handoff of Timmerman to U.S. forces.

"Pete Timmerman AKA Travis is secure and sound and again in American arms thanks to the superb group at (the Syrian Emergency Process Pressure) for making this occur!" Moustafa wrote in a submit on X.

Pete Timmerman AKA Travis is secure and sound and again in American arms thanks to the superb group at @syrianetf for making this occur! Thanks to the brand new authorities in Damascus for serving to us and escorting us safely to the Tanf Garrison #Syria is free and so are the… pic.twitter.com/kB0O6384BZ

— Mouaz Moustafa (@SoccerMouaz) December 13, 2024

Timmerman, who's from Missouri, advised CBS Information senior international correspondent Elizabeth Palmer on Thursday that he was free of jail earlier within the week after rebels overthrew Assad's authorities. He stated two males armed with AK-47s broke his jail door down Monday with a hammer.

"My door was busted down, it woke me up," Timmerman stated. "I believed the guards had been nonetheless there, so I believed the warfare may have been extra energetic than it ended up being. … As soon as we bought out, there was no resistance, there was no actual preventing."

Timmerman stated he had gone to Syria for Christian "religious functions" and that his expertise in jail "wasn't too unhealthy." He stated he was detained upon coming into Syria with out permission seven months in the past after spending a month in neighboring Lebanon.

"I used to be by no means overwhelmed. The one actually unhealthy half was that I could not go to the lavatory once I needed to. I used to be solely let loose thrice a day to go to the lavatory," he stated.

American present in Syria after months of captivity begins journey residence

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Timmerman stated he left the jail with a big group and began strolling away.

The 29-year-old's household advised CBS Information international correspondent Ian Lee they're overjoyed that he's alive and properly.

"It is onerous not to think about detrimental ideas at the moment. We had been type of pondering it was going to be the worst final result for us," Timmerman's cousin, Mandy Pentridge, stated.

Timmerman is from Urbana, Missouri, about 50 miles north of Springfield within the southwestern a part of the state. He earned a finance diploma from Missouri State College in 2017, the Related Press reported.

Haley Ott and Camilla Schick contributed to this report.

Lucia Suarez Sang

Lucia Suarez Sang is an affiliate managing editor at CBSNews.com. Beforehand, Lucia was the director of digital content material at FOX61 Information in Connecticut and has beforehand written for shops together with FoxNews.com, Fox Information Latino and the Rutland Herald.