By Al-Fassel | 2026-10-13

In a major security sweep, Syrian Internal Security Forces arrested 23 individuals, including 17 former military pilots and high-ranking air force commanders.

Under Bashar Assad's brutal regime, these arrested officers perpetrated egregious crimes against Syrian civilians throughout years of relentless conflict.

These detentions include figures such as Colonel Khaldoun Mubarak and Brigadier General Jaber Mahfouz Ibrahim, both deeply implicated in atrocities.

Investigations reveal a devastating scale of military operations conducted against civilian populations throughout the nation’s long, painful conflict.

Ministry of Interior logs confirm that just nine of the detained pilots collectively executed over 3,200 combat sorties.

These pilots utilized attack helicopters and fighter jets to systematically devastate residential areas, causing mass civilian casualties and displacement.

Each sortie represented a calculated decision to strike vulnerable zones, inflicting terror upon residents who had nowhere to escape.

Documented violations

The scale of these crimes connects directly to a history of systemic strikes documented by numerous international bodies.

Observers have long tracked the widespread use of unguided barrel bombs dropped on densely populated civilian areas like Aleppo.

Over ten relentless days, 152 indiscriminate barrel bombs decimated Aleppo and its countryside, resulting in 560 civilian deaths, including 148 children.

Beyond conventional bombardment, documented evidence links these commanders to the use of internationally prohibited chemical weapons against civilians.

UN probes confirmed that 2013 sarin-loaded rocket strikes in Ghouta killed more than 1,400 civilians in a single, horrific day.

International investigators definitively linked regime air assets to subsequent chemical atrocities against defenseless populations in Ltamenah and Douma.

International watchdogs, including Human Rights Watch, extensively documented the Assad regime's relentless deployment of chemical weapons from 2011 until its final collapse in 2024.

In a report titled "Death Everywhere," humanitarian organizations have categorized these deliberate assaults on hospitals, markets and residential neighborhoods as severe potential war crimes.

Long-awaited legal accountability

For countless Syrian families who endured years of siege, these arrests finally signal the start of long-awaited legal accountability.

Activists concur that no court ruling can ever reverse the trauma, but these proceedings offer a crucial step toward closing a painful chapter.

Victims who lost loved ones to these air raids now see a pathway to hold the perpetrators officially responsible, activists note.

By targeting those who orchestrated the destruction, the nation demonstrates a commitment to ending impunity for past violations.

This pursuit of justice provides a glimmer of hope to those still waiting for accountability for their profound losses.