Syria’s new authorities have arrested nearly 300 people, including informants, pro-regime fighters and former soldiers, in a crackdown on loyalists of ousted former president Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said on Sunday.
Since rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group overthrew Assad three weeks ago, ending more than five decades of family rule, new authorities in Syria have stepped up efforts to consolidate control.
The new administration’s security forces launched a large-scale operation against Assad’s militias on Thursday.
“In less than a week, nearly 300 people have been detained in Damascus and its suburbs, as well as in Homs, Hama, Tartus, Latakia and even Deir Ezzor,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in the war. monitor.
The official Syrian news agency. FURYalso reported arrests this week against “members of the Assad militia” in the provinces of Hama and Latakia, where weapons and ammunition were seized. He did not provide any figures.
Among those arrested, according to the Observatory, were former regime informants, pro-Iran fighters and low-ranking military officers accused of murder and torture, Abdel Rahman said.
The Observatory, which is based in Britain, relies on a network of sources across Syria.
Abdel Rahman said that “the campaign continues, but no prominent figure has been arrested” except General Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, former head of military justice during Assad’s government, who allegedly oversaw thousands of death sentences following summary prison trials. from Saydnaya.
Referring to social media videos showing armed men abusing detainees and even carrying out summary executions, Abdel Rahman said: “Some people, including informants, were executed immediately after being detained.”
AFP was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the images.
The arrests reportedly took place “with the cooperation of the local population,” Abdel Rahman added.
The HTS led a coalition of rebel groups that entered Damascus on December 8 after a rapid offensive, forcing Assad to flee to Russia.
Anas Khattab, the new head of General Intelligence, has pledged to reform the security apparatus, denouncing “the injustice and tyranny of the previous regime, whose agencies sowed corruption and inflicted suffering on the people. “
