Damascus, Oct. 1 (SANA) For Um Marwan, a woman in her sixties living in Eastern Ghouta, the memory of years under heavy aerial bombardment remains deeply etched in her mind. Like countless Syrian families, her household carries the scars of siege and the loss of loved ones. Looking at a photograph of her late son, however, her tears this time carry a different weight.
“These are tears of joy,” she said, reacting to the recent announcement that internal security forces have arrested a significant group of air force officers from the ousted regime.
In a major security sweep conducted last September, Internal Security Forces apprehended 23 individuals accused of committing severe crimes against Syrian civilians. Among those arrested are 17 former military pilots and air force commanders. Investigators state that these officers abused their positions and flight qualifications to conduct targeted air raids, causing widespread casualties, mass displacement, and severe destruction of civilian infrastructure across multiple regions.
Key commanders held over thousands of sorties
Among the high-ranking officers detained is Colonel Khaldoun Mubarak, formerly stationed with the 17th Brigade at al-Seen Airbase in Damascus Countryside, who is implicated in major military operations across northern Syria. Also Brigadier General Jaber Mahfouz Ibrahim, former commander of the 138th Air Defense Brigade in Saida, Daraa countryside. Investigations link Ibrahim to the suppression of peaceful demonstrators during the early siege of Daraa al-Balad, an operation associated with the deaths and torture of hundreds of activists, including the young child Hamza al-Khateeb.
According to Ministry of Interior investigation logs concerning nine of the detained pilots, the group collectively flew more than 3,200 combat sorties using attack helicopters and fighter jets against various residential zones.
International documentation of systemic strikes
The air campaign conducted by the ousted regime forces has long been a major focus of international human rights organizations and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. Since the early stages of the revolution, international observers have documented the widespread use of unguided munitions and barrel bombs dropped on densely populated civilian areas.
Reports by the Syrian Network for Human Rights highlighted one particularly intense period in December 2013, during which over 152 barrel bombs were dropped on Aleppo and its countryside in just ten days, resulting in 560 civilian deaths, including 148 children and 63 women. The UN Commission noted at the time that strikes targeted markets, residential neighborhoods, and medical facilities, causing mass displacement and severe violations of international humanitarian law.
From conventional raids to chemical weapons
Documented violations extend beyond conventional bombardments to chemical attacks. UN investigations confirmed the use of ground-to-ground rockets carrying sarin gas in the Eastern and Western Ghouta attack on August 21, 2013, which claimed over 1,400 lives. Additionally, investigations by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) attributed air force involvement to chemical strikes in Ltamenah (March 2017) and Douma (April 2018).
Humanitarian groups, including Amnesty International in its 2015 report “Death Everywhere,” categorized many of these systematic attacks on schools, markets, and hospitals as potential war crimes.
A path toward long-awaited justice
For the families of victims, legal proceedings represent an essential step toward closing a painful chapter.
“Marwan is gone, but his memory imposes a duty on me,” Um Marwan reflected. “While no court ruling can bring him back, his memory drives me to demand justice for him and for every victim. Behind every loss is a family still waiting for justice.”
A/Dh – H.H
