Syria detains former general over alleged Hama and protest crackdown role
Internal Security Forces accuse Mohammed Ali Durgham of involvement in the 1982 Hama operation and ordering troops to fire on protesters near Damascus in 2011.
Syria’s Internal Security Forces have announced the detention of former Major-General Mohammed Ali Durgham, accusing him of involvement in the 1982 Hama crackdown and of ordering troops to fire on unarmed protesters near Damascus in 2011.
Authorities said Durgham was a prominent military officer under Bashar al-Assad’s former regime. They allege he served in the army’s Fourth Division, commanded by Maher al-Assad, between 2009 and 2013.
The Internal Security Forces also allege that Durgham began as a squad commander in the Defence Brigades during the Hama operation. The crackdown followed an information blackout and lasted nearly a month. Estimates of those killed range from 10,000 to 40,000.
The allegation concerning the 2011 protests was also reported by Human Rights Watch, which cited a Syrian army defector who said Durgham ordered troops to shoot protesters in areas in and around Damascus. The claims against Durgham have not been independently established in the supplied material.
His detention forms part of continuing arrests of former Assad-era security officials by Syria’s post-Assad authorities. Major-General Jalal Kamel Saqr was reportedly detained last week over alleged war crimes and arbitrary detentions.
