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Syrian authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of 4 members of the ousted regime on charges of committing massacres and violations against civilians, including kidnapping, looting, and financial extortion.
The Internal Security Forces, affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior, said in a statement that they had managed to arrest "four members of the defunct regime's criminals for their involvement in committing crimes, massacres, and grave violations against civilians."
The statement explained that the detainees, Nabil Adnan Ismail and Ghazi Mohammed Ismail, were in charge of leading groups within the Air Force Intelligence militias during the rule of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
It pointed out that investigations revealed their involvement in "crimes of kidnapping, looting, and horrific massacres against the residents," most notably direct participation in the events of the village of Aqrab, in addition to carrying out kidnapping and financial extortion operations that affected a number of civilians.
The village of Aqrab is located in the countryside of Hama governorate in central Syria and witnessed bloody events in December 2012, while the Interior Ministry's statement did not specify whether the accusations directed at the detainees were related to those events or the number of victims associated with them.
In the same context, the statement confirmed that records showed the involvement of the detained brothers, Taher Yousef al-Mohammed and Talal Yousef al-Mohammed, who served in the Air Force Intelligence Directorate and the Scientific Studies and Research Center, in repression and arrest operations.
It added that the brothers exploited their official positions "to access detainees' files and extort their families."
The statement mentioned that the competent authorities are continuing investigations with the four detainees to complete the necessary legal procedures against them, "in preparation for referring them to the competent judiciary."
The statement did not specify the locations where the accused were arrested or whether they had confessed to the charges attributed to them.
The operation comes within a series of arrests announced by Syrian authorities against individuals accused of being involved in violations during the previous regime's rule.
On October 2, the Syrian News Agency "SANA" reported that the competent authorities announced the arrest of 26 people during last September, up to the 28th of the month, including military leaders, officers, and former members of the security services.
These arrests included the governorates of Latakia, Tartus, Idlib, Damascus, Daraa, and Deir ez-Zor, against the backdrop of accusations of committing violations against civilians during the previous regime's rule.
Syrian authorities are pursuing, through extensive security operations, individuals involved in committing violations against civilians during the Assad regime's rule, as part of their declared efforts to achieve transitional justice and hold those responsible for the crimes accountable.
On December 8, 2024, Syrian rebels managed to enter the capital, Damascus, announcing the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, which had inherited power from his father, Hafez al-Assad (1970-2000).
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