Syria Detains Ex-Assad Aide Over Regime-Era Atrocities

(MENAFN) Syrian authorities announced Saturday the detention of a former senior presidential aide implicated in abuses carried out under the Assad regime.

The Interior Ministry posted on X — the US social media platform — that security forces, operating in coordination with the Counterterrorism Directorate, apprehended Major General Wajih Ali al-Abdullah in a "swift security operation."

Al-Abdullah spent 13 years heading military affairs at the presidential palace under ousted President Bashar al-Assad, the ministry confirmed. Officials described him as "one of the pillars of the former regime's inner circle," accusing him of orchestrating "repressive practices and grave violations" against Syrian civilians throughout his tenure.

Investigators determined that al-Abdullah held the position from 2005 to 2018 — a span the ministry characterized as the bloodiest chapter in Syria's modern history.

The arrest is part of a broader crackdown on former Syrian military and security figures suspected of committing violations during the Syrian revolution. On Friday, authorities detained General Khardal Ahmad Dioub, accused of involvement in a chemical attack on Eastern Ghouta near Damascus. That detention followed the arrest of Amjad Youssef, alleged perpetrator of the 2013 Tadamon neighborhood massacre in Damascus.

Assad, who governed Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024, collapsing the Baath Party's decades-long grip on power that dated to 1963. A transitional administration under President Ahmad al-Sharaa was inaugurated in January 2025.

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