Seventeen people were killed in Syria’s Tartus province on Wednesday after clashes erupted when security forces attempted to arrest a former officer linked to the infamous Saydnaya prison under Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a war monitor reported.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 14 members of the General Security force of Syria’s new government were killed, along with three armed men in the village of Khirbet al-Maaza. The casualty toll, initially reported as nine, rose after further reports emerged.
The operation targeted Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, a former regime officer who allegedly oversaw extrajudicial executions and torture as the director of military justice and chief of the field court. He is accused of issuing death sentences against thousands of prisoners during his tenure.
Interior Minister Mohammed Abdel Rahman described the incident as a “treacherous ambush by remnants of the criminal regime” and confirmed 14 security personnel were killed and 10 others injured.
The ambush occurred as forces tried to search homes in the Alawite-dominated Tartus province, where Assad maintained strong support during the war. Locals reportedly resisted the searches, and Hassan’s brother, along with armed accomplices, attacked security personnel, targeting a patrol vehicle and setting up an ambush near the village.
The clashes come weeks after Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad’s regime, ending a 13-year conflict that began with the brutal suppression of anti-government protests and claimed over 500,000 lives. The fall of Assad’s government has led to the release of thousands of prisoners from Syria’s notorious prisons, including Saydnaya, infamous for its systemic torture and mass executions.
The Observatory noted that dozens of residents were arrested in connection with the ambush.
The legacy of Saydnaya prison, where tens of thousands were forcibly disappeared or killed, remains a haunting symbol of the atrocities committed during Assad’s rule.
