Freed American flown out of Syria by US military: Reports

US national Travis Timmerman has been flown out of Syria by the US military after being freed from regime captivity earlier this week, according to reports published Friday.

Timmerman, 29, said he was released from Palestine Branch (Far Falastin), a detention and torture center in Damascus, as thousands of detainees were freed after the collapse of the Baath regime on Sunday. Timmerman told Anadolu he was captured by Syrian border security forces seven months ago while he was in the mountains between Lebanon and Syria.

Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, said on X that Timmerman "is safe and sound and back in American hands." The post included photos of Timmerman's purported handoff to the US military.

"Thank you to the new government in Damascus for helping us and escorting us safely to the Tanf Garrison #Syria is free and so are the Americans detained by the animal Assad now back to Damascus to look for others that need to go home yesterday!!!" wrote Moustafa.

Defense officials who spoke to CBS News confirmed Timmerman's transfer to the US military. The State Department and the White House referred questions on the reports to the Pentagon.