Fourteen members of the security forces were killed on Wednesday in Syria, according to the Interior Ministry, in fighting with armed men who tried to prevent the arrest of an official of the former power of Bashar al-Assad linked to Saydnaya prison, according to OSDH.
“Fourteen members of the Interior Ministry were killed and 10 others injured after […] a deceitful ambush set by the elders of the criminal regime” in the province of Tartous (west) “while carrying out their duties of maintaining security and safety”, wrote the new Minister of the Interior Mohammed Abdel Rahman, in a press release.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported 17 deaths in clashes between armed men and security forces who tried to arrest a government officer in Tartous, accused of being “one of those responsible for the crimes at Saydnaya prison (near Damascus)”.
Fourteen members of the security services were killed as well as “three armed men”, after security forces attempted to arrest an official in the power of former President Bashar al-Assad, in Khirbet al-Ma'zah (west), the OSDH said.
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“Arbitrary judgments”
The NGO reported that the wanted man, a former director of military justice identified as Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, was accused of being “one of those responsible for crimes at Saydnaya prison (near Damascus)”, sadly famous for its inhumane conditions and its central role in the violent repression carried out by the Assad clan.
The ex-officer had “pronounced death sentences and arbitrary judgments against thousands of prisoners”, added the OSDH.
The clashes broke out after “residents refused to have their homes searched”, indicated the OSDH, adding that “dozens of people” had been arrested.
The officer's brother and armed men blocked the security forces, “ ambushed them near the village and targeted one of the patrol vehicles,” according to the OSDH.
Saydnaya prison, located north of Damascus, has become the symbol of the repression exercised by the Assad clan on the Syrian population, particularly since the civil war broke out in 2011.
