The indictment was the second time in a week that the Justice Department announced that it had charged top Syrian officials with human rights abuses.

A former Syrian military official who oversaw a prison where alleged human rights abuses took place has been charged with several counts of torture.

The former head of a notorious Syrian prison was charged Thursday in the United States with torturing opponents of the now-collapsed government of Bashar al-Assad, the Justice Department said. The Justice Department said Alsheikh held a variety of positions in the Syrian police and the Syrian state security apparatus.

An American man identifying himself as Travis Timmerman has been found near the Syrian capital Damascus after being freed from a prison as rebels took over the country.

Travis Timmerman, a missing American from Missouri, was freed from a Syrian prison and found Thursday outside of Damascus trying to make his way out of the country on foot.

The top U.S. diplomat will meet with regional leaders to emphasize U.S. support for a Syrian-led transition to “an accountable and representative government.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Turkey on Thursday for talks focused on a critical aspect of establishing stability in Syria: clashes in the north of the country between U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and Turkey-backed rebels.