The government of former Syrian President for Life (unsuccessful) Bashir al-Assad carried out a 2 year long clandestine operation to transfer bodies from a mass grave in Qutayfah. They created a second mass grave in the desert outside the town of Dhumair that was more difficult to detect. The effort lasted from 2019 to 2021 and was intended to hide war crimes committed during his presidency.
More than 160,000 people disappeared into the deposed dictator’s vast security apparatus and are believed to be buried in the dozens of mass graves he created, according to Syrian rights groups. Organized excavation and DNA analysis could help trace what happened to them, easing one of Syria’s most painful faultlines. Reuters
The new Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa hasn’t yet commented on the Reuters story. Al-Sharaa’s forces and it’s allies have been busy attacking Druze, Alawite, Palestinians, Syriac Christians and most recently Kurds. Al Sharaa was an al-Queda operative in Iraq. He was released from a US military prison after only 5 years, moved to Syria and started his own militia. It’s as if the (man) gods willed it. Al-Assad’s incredibly hasty exit and al-Sharaa’s hastier installation as president has made everything all better now. US President for Life (hopeful) Donald Trump thinks al-Sharaa is a “handsome young man.”
- Exclusive: Assad government secretly moved mass grave to cover up killings, Reuters investigation finds Reuters
- Syria and Lebanon’s moves to centralize power leads to crackdowns on Palestinian factions AP News
- Syrian forces massacred 1,500 Alawites. The chain of command led to Damascus. Reuters
- Who are the Druze and why is Israel claiming to protect them by attacking Syria? Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Syria update: Christians among over 1,000 massacred amid worst atrocities since Assad’s ousting Christian Daily International
- Deadly Clashes Erupt Between Syrian Government Forces and Kurdish Fighters New York Times
- Renewed Fighting Between Kurds and Government Forces Threatens Syria’s Unity Foundation for Defense of Democracy
- Pogroms against the Kurds 4dforum
- Israel Strikes Damascus 4dforum