Syria said on Monday it had arrested members of “espionage and bombing cells” loyal to former leader Bashar Al Assad, in its latest crackdown on remnants of the former regime.
The suspects are accused of detonating car bombs and helping Assad warplanes pinpoint their targets in the eastern city of Idlib, which was a rebel bastion during Syria's civil war.
Brig Gen Ghassan Bakir, the head of the current government's internal security forces in Idlib, said the suspects confessed to taking part in bombings and helping smuggle perpetrators out of sight.
“Their tasks included monitoring and photographing military sites during the revolution and providing the regime's warplanes and artillery units with precise co-ordinates for targeting them,” state media quoted Brig Gen Bakir as saying.
The Syrian government under President Ahmad Al Shara, who led the rebel offensive that ended Assad rule in 2024, has made a priority of tracking down and prosecuting members of the former regime. Mr Al Assad himself fled to Moscow and has not been seen in public since.
Interior Ministry spokesman Nour Al Baba acknowledged the Syrian government was under pressure to act after protests calling for justice. “Accountability is not merely a popular demand, but an official commitment of the new Syrian state,” he said.
Suspects captured in recent months include an Assad cousin involved in armed robberies and an air force commander linked to chemical attacks. The first trial of an Assad-era general, Atif Najib, began in Damascus in April.
While chasing down remnants of the Assad regime, the Syrian government is also straining to fend off a resurgence of ISIS. Mr Al Shara has assured his new western partners he can keep the extremists at bay despite his own militant background.
One member of the internal security forces was killed in an attack by two suicide bombers in Raqqa on Monday, the Interior Ministry said. It said the attackers were affiliated with ISIS. Three people were injured.
