A Syria war monitor said 17 people were killed Wednesday in clashes in Tartus province after security forces sought to arrest an officer under deposed leader Bashar al-Assad who was linked to a notorious prison.
Forces had sought to arrest an officer who was among “those responsible for the crimes of the Saydnaya prison”, added the Observatory.
The officer’s brother and armed men intercepted the security forces, “set up an ambush for them near the village and targeted one of the patrol vehicles”, the Observatory said.
The notorious Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomised the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents.
The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people remains one of the most harrowing legacies of the conflict.
As security forces attempted to apprehend an officer under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad who was connected to a notorious prison, 17 people were killed in clashes in Tartus province on Wednesday, according to a Syria war monitor.
Nine people were killed earlier, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “three armed men” and “14 members of the General Security force” of Syria’s new authorities were also killed in Khirbet al-Maaza.
An officer who was one of “those responsible for the crimes of the Saydnaya prison” was targeted for arrest, the Observatory added.
“Ten others were injured and fourteen members of the interior ministry were killed,” said Mohammed Abdel Rahman, the new interior minister, in a statement. “while performing their tasks of maintaining security and safety” in Tartus province, where they were ambushed by relics of the criminal regime.
After Assad was overthrown by rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) this month, more than 13 years after his violent suppression of anti-government demonstrations sparked a war that has claimed over 500,000 lives, the doors of Syria’s prisons were thrown open.
He was identified by the Observatory as Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, “an officer in the former regime forces who held the position of director of the military justice department and field court chief.”.
He “issued arbitrary judgments and death sentences against thousands of prisoners,” according to the report.
Relying on a network of sources inside Syria, the Britain-based Observatory said that “a number of residents refused to allow their houses to be searched” before clashes broke out in Tartus province, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite minority.
The security forces were intercepted by the officer’s brother and armed men, who “set up an ambush for them near the village and targeted one of the patrol vehicles,” according to the Observatory.
It also stated that “dozens of people” were taken into custody in the village.
A prime example of the horrors inflicted on Assad’s opponents was the infamous Saydnaya complex, which was the scene of extrajudicial executions, torture, and enforced disappearances.
Tens of thousands of prisoners and missing persons are still among the most horrific effects of the war.
AFP.
