Security forces in Syria announced on Monday, February 17, 2025, the arrest of three individuals allegedly involved in the mass execution of hundreds of civilians in Damascus in 2013.
The arrests come more than a decade after the Syrian civil war began, marking a rare attempt at accountability for wartime atrocities.
The crackdown took place in Tadamon, a Damascus suburb near the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, dozens of police and security vehicles flooded the area as armed security personnel moved through the war-torn neighborhood, once a frontline between government forces and opposition fighters.
According to AP News, the case traces back to 2022 when a leaked video surfaced, revealing horrifying footage of the 2013 executions.
The seven-minute clip showed members of Syria’s Military Intelligence Branch 227 leading around 40 blindfolded prisoners into an abandoned building in Tadamon, one by one, they were pushed into a trench filled with tires and shot dead.
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Among the detainees arrested was Monzer Al-Jazairi, a former operative linked to military security forces before the fall of Bashar Assad in December 2024, speaking to the Associated Press, Al-Jazairi described how prisoners were brought from checkpoints and executed under collapsed buildings.
However, it remains unclear whether he spoke freely or under coercion.
According to Al-Jazairi, the executions took place in batches of around 25 people at a time, occurring roughly once a week, he estimated that he and his accomplices had executed nearly 500 people. His statement was supported by Damascus Security Chief Lt. Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Dabbagh, who cited additional confessions obtained from the suspects.
Al-Dabbagh confirmed that victims were arrested at various security checkpoints and detention centers before being transported to Tadamon, where they were summarily executed, the two other arrested individuals were identified as Somer Mohammed Al-Mahmoud and Imad Mohammed Al-Mahmoud, both suspected of involvement in the mass killings.
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Years after some of the Syrian war’s worst atrocities, most of those responsible remain unpunished. However, since the overthrow of Assad’s regime, the new Syrian leadership, now controlled by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has been actively tracking down and arresting former government operatives involved in war crimes.
“This operation is ongoing to apprehend all those involved in violations and massacres against Syrians,” said Al-Dabbagh, emphasizing the government’s commitment to justice.
