DAMASCUS — Syrian forces killed a former Assad-era commander during a security operation east of Tartus, authorities said on Sunday, as the government intensifies its campaign against armed groups linked to remnants of the former Assad regime.
Firas Abdul Karim Hammoud, known as “al-Khal”, was the former commander of special forces in the unit once known as the 25th Division, the Syrian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Internal Security forces raided Hammoud’s hideout in the town of Safita in Tartus province after tracking his movements across several areas.
It said Hammoud opened fire on the forces as they tried to arrest him, prompting officers to return fire, which killed him.
In a statement, the forces accused Hammoud of having taken part in anti-government insurrections that killed security personnel.
Since Assad’s fall in December 2024, Syria’s new authorities have arrested dozens of security officials from his rule, and trials began in April.
Hammoud had opened fire on security personnel during an attempt to arrest him three days before the raid, authorities said.
Hammoud served as a commander of the special forces in the so-called “25th Division” under Assad’s rule.
They accused him of working under Assad-era general Ghiath Dalla in leading pro-Assad groups on the coast after the former president’s fall.
Dalla, a former officer in the much-feared Fourth Brigade, had announced on social media last year the formation of a “military council for the liberation of Syria.”
The announcement came shortly before deadly violence targeting the Alawite minority, to which Assad’s family belongs, erupted on the Syrian coast in March 2025.
Authorities accused armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.
The Alawite community has been the target of several episodes of violence since Assad’s ouster.
Despite assurances from Damascus that all communities will be protected, Syria’s minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.
Source: Saudi Gazette