Asharq Al-Awsat follows sweeping security campaign against former regime remnants in Aleppo

For a third straight day, Syrian security forces have pursued former figures from Bashar Assad’s ousted regime across Aleppo, in a campaign aimed at those accused of war crimes and other abuses against civilians.

The operation, led by Internal Security forces and the Counterterrorism Department, is the second campaign of its kind in Aleppo this year. Sources at Aleppo’s Internal Security Directorate told Asharq Al-Awsat that more than 50 people had been detained in the city and surrounding countryside. Those detained include former officers, personnel and informants.

Among the most prominent detainees is Brig. Gen. Hamada Ali Murad, a military pilot arrested in the town of Nubl. The sources said Murad faced accusations of responsibility for numerous violations against civilians and of facilitating alleged illicit activities by family members, including looting homes, seizing properties and selling them.

The security directorate said the operation followed an extensive assessment of those targeted, surveillance of their activities and the collection of evidence concerning alleged crimes and abuses. Complaints and accusations include war crimes, intimidation, extortion, robbery, and the exploitation and sale of property belonging to civilians and displaced people.

Officials said operations in Aleppo and its countryside would continue until their objectives were reached. Those objectives include arresting wanted former regime personnel and other suspects believed to have been involved with terrorist groups or to have committed violence against civilians.

Murad, a native of Nubl, graduated from the 30th class of the Air Force Academy as a helicopter pilot. He served with the 63rd Air Brigade at Taftanaz air base, later became an instructor at the Air Force Academy and served as an officer at the Air Force Institute. During the uprising against the former regime, sources said, he moved to the Air Force Intelligence branch in Aleppo as a liaison officer, coordinating information about air operations and identifying areas targeted for bombardment. The Internal Security Directorate said in a statement that a pilot had been detained, but did not name him.