Syria: Suspected Tadamon massacre perpetrator detained in Homs

A man suspected to be a key perpetrator of the infamous Tadamon massacre in Damascus has been arrested in the central Syrian city of Homs.

Syria’s Al-Ikhbariya channel reported that internal security forces had detained Kamel Mohammed Sharif Abbas in the early hours of Friday morning.

He is accused of committing serious crimes against civilians during the years of the war, including playing a central role in the Tadamon massacre.

There was widespread outrage in Syria and around the world after video footage was leaked documenting the field executions in Tadamon of hundreds of unarmed civilians by members of the ousted Assad regime’s forces.

In the course of the brutal 14-year long war in Syria, in which over 500,000 civilians were killed, the massacre in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon, which took place in in 2013, gained particular notoriety due to the detail with which the regime personnel carrying it out documented it.

In February, three other suspects; Monzer al-Jazairi, Somer Mohammed al-Mahmoud and Imad Mohammed al-Mahmoud were arrested in Tadamon, accused of involvement in the 2013 massacre.

However, former Syrian military intelligence official Amjad Yousef, who appeared prominently in the footage of the massacre as he carried out killings and taunted the victims, has not yet been apprehended.

In a related context, security operations are underway in a number of Syrian regions including the Jabal Al-Zawiya region in Idlib’s rural south, as well as the countryside areas of Hama, Homs and Damascus, as the new authorities continue attempts to arrest fugitives and remnants of the Assad regime.

Since ousting the former regime, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has called on militant groups to hand over their weapons and merge with the state, but the war-ravaged country remains deeply divided, with recent sectarian violence in the coastal region raising fears among minority groups, and increasing calls being made for an comprehensive transitional justice mechanism to be established. 

This article is based on an article which appeared in our Arabic edition by Mohamad Karkas on 4 April 2025. To read the original article click here.