Syria detains former general linked to Hama massacre and protest crackdown

Syrian authorities have announced the detainment of former Major-General Mohammed Ali Durgham, who is accused of involvement in the Hama massacre in 1982 and overseeing a crackdown on protests in 2011. The country’s Internal Security Forces reported the arrest on Monday, stating that Durgham had issued orders to fire on unarmed protesters in the Damascus countryside. Human Rights Watch previously cited a Syrian army defector who identified Durgham as one of the generals who ordered troops to shoot at protesters during the 2011 unrest. Durgham served as a field commander in the army’s Fourth Division, which was led by Maher al-Assad, the brother of former President Bashar al-Assad, from 2009 to 2013. The authorities noted that Durgham began his military career as a squad commander during the events in Hama in 1982. On February 2, 1982, then-President Hafez al-Assad initiated a violent crackdown in Hama, resulting in a death toll estimated between 10,000 and 40,000 over nearly a month. Durgham’s arrest is part of ongoing efforts by Syria’s new government to hold accountable former officials for crimes committed under the previous regime. Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, authorities have detained numerous former security officials, including former Major-General Jalal Kamel Saqr, who was arrested last week for war crimes and arbitrary detentions.