DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A former Syrian intelligence operative featured in a disturbing leaked video showing mass executions has been captured by authorities, officials announced Friday.
The Interior Ministry confirmed that Amjad Yousef was taken into custody in Hama province, where he had been in hiding. Officials released an image showing him wearing a striped prison jumpsuit.
The arrest follows the December 2024 overthrow of former President Bashar Assad by insurgent forces, leading to the capture of numerous security personnel accused of committing war crimes. Assad has since fled to Russia for refuge.
The devastating conflict that erupted from peaceful demonstrations in March 2011 eventually escalated into a full-scale civil war, resulting in approximately 500,000 deaths and more than one million injuries.
Yousef was identified as one of multiple Syrian security operatives featured in footage that surfaced in 2022, depicting the systematic execution of bound and blindfolded prisoners who were shot and disposed of in a pit.
The disturbing 6-minute and 43-second recording captured members of the infamous Military Intelligence Branch 227 executing approximately 40 detainees in a deserted structure in Tadamon, a Damascus suburb adjacent to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee settlement. This area remained a battleground between government troops and rebel forces throughout much of the war.
The victims appeared with blindfolds and hands restrained behind them. The Branch 227 operatives systematically positioned each prisoner at the rim of a pit containing old tires before forcing them inside and shooting them as they fell.
During the recording, intelligence personnel deceived some prisoners by claiming they would traverse a dangerous sniper zone and instructed them to run quickly. The victims collapsed onto the remains of previous victims. As corpses accumulated in the pit, some victims continued moving, prompting additional gunfire into the mass of bodies.
The perpetrators subsequently ignited the remains, apparently attempting to destroy evidence of their crimes.
Syrian security forces announced last year that three additional individuals connected to these same killings had been apprehended.
Friday’s Interior Ministry announcement emphasized that authorities remain committed to tracking down everyone involved in the Tadamon executions to ensure they face prosecution.
The U.S. State Department imposed travel restrictions on Yousef, his spouse, and immediate family members in March 2023, barring their entry into the United States.
