It had been nearly a decade since Mahmoud al-Khalaf laid eyes on his father, but he immediately recognised the bruised and battered face in the graphic photograph circulating online.
It was one of four published samples from a cache of 800 images allegedly showing Syrians who died in the summer of 2013 in government detention in the northern Aleppo Central Prison.
Reuters could not immediately verify the accuracy of the four photos published by the Syrian website Zaman al-Wasl. The Syrian government did not respond to a request for comment.
