Syrian Authorities Arrest Former Assad-Regime General Over Historic Massacres and Protests Crackdown

Syrian authorities have announced the detainment of former Major-General Mohammed Ali Durgham, an Assad-era military figure accused of involvement in the 1982 Hama massacre and the violent suppression of unarmed demonstrations in 2011.

According to the Internal Security Forces, Durgham was taken into custody on Monday. He faces serious allegations regarding his role in issuing direct orders to fire upon protesters in the Damascus countryside during his tenure as a field commander in the army's Fourth Division between 2009 and 2013, which was commanded by Maher al-Assad.

Human Rights Watch previously highlighted testimony from a Syrian army defector in 2011 identifying Durgham as one of the generals responsible for ordering troops to open fire on demonstrators. Additionally, authorities noted that Durgham began his military career as a squad commander in the Defence Brigades during the events in Hama Governorate in 1982, when then-President Hafez al-Assad initiated a brutal month-long siege that resulted in a death toll estimated between 10,000 and 40,000 people.

This arrest forms part of an ongoing campaign by Syria's new government—led by figures from the former rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which deposed former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024—to hold accountable those responsible for the abuses of the previous regime. Dozens of former security officials have been detained in recent weeks, including former Major-General Jalal Kamel Saqr, who was apprehended last week for war crimes and arbitrary detentions, as reported by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).