Syria attacks pro-Assad militias after clash with 17 dead

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the 17 people were killed in clashes between armed men and new security forces trying to arrest a representative of the former regime in Tartus. The officer is accused of being “one of those responsible for the crimes in Saydnaya prison”, near Damascus.

The clashes broke out after “residents refused to allow their homes to be searched”, the NGO added, adding that “dozens of people” were arrested. In an ambush at the entrance to the village, the officer’s brother and armed men blocked security forces and shot at one of the patrol vehicles.

The NGO also said that the wanted man was a former director of military justice identified as Mohammed Kanjo Hassan,. According to the OSDH, he “handed down death sentences and arbitrary trials against thousands of prisoners” from Saydnaya.

“Human slaughterhouse”

Located north of Damascus, Saydnaya prison has become a symbol of the Assad clan’s repression of the Syrian population, particularly since the start of the civil war in 2011. Thousands of inmates, crammed into this prison that Amnesty International has described as a ” human slaughterhouse”, were freed by the Syrian rebels who seized power in Damascus on December 8.

The rebel coalition’s new Interior Minister, Mohammed Abdel Rahman, confirmed in a statement that “fourteen members of the Ministry of Interior were killed and another 10 were injured following (…) an ambush carried out by former members of the criminal regime” in western province of Tartus. This happened “while they were carrying out their duties to maintain safety and security”, Rahman stressed.