The long arm of transitional justice reached Syria’s coastal stronghold of Latakia tonight, as the Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of five senior officers who once held sensitive positions under the ousted Baathist regime. All are now accused of committing grave war crimes against the Syrian people.
Brigadier General Abdulaziz al-Ahmad, commander of internal security in Latakia Governorate, named the detainees as:
- Brigadier General Adnan Ali Yusuf
- Brigadier Doctor Sami Muhammad Saleh
- Brigadier Doctor Ghassan Ali Darwish
- Lieutenant Colonel Doctor Ghadir Imad Jaza’a
- Lieutenant Colonel Tariq Ali Baniyas
Most of the arrested served as physicians and military judges at the notorious Tishreen Military Hospital in Damascus—a facility long associated with torture and extrajudicial killings.
“Preliminary investigations have confirmed their direct involvement in heinous war crimes, murders and systematic cover-ups of atrocities committed against civilians in multiple regime prisons,” al-Ahmad stated. He pledged that “the hand of justice will reach every criminal who spilled Syrian blood, no matter how high their rank or how long they hid.”
The arrests mark the latest step in a growing campaign to dismantle the former regime’s apparatus of repression—province by province.
Aleppo: Former Militia Commander Detained
Earlier in the day, security forces in Aleppo apprehended Sami Obeiri, the former commander of the National Defence Forces (NDF) militia in the province. Colonel Muhammad Abdul Ghani, Aleppo’s internal security chief, stated that Obeiri personally directed the violent crackdown on peaceful protests at the outset of the revolution in 2011. He went on to co-found and lead the NDF in Aleppo from 2012 to 2017, presiding over a reign marked by extortion, abduction and murder.
From the Mediterranean coast to the northern plains, Syria’s transitional authorities appear determined to fulfil their promise: the era of impunity is drawing to a close—one uniform at a time.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
