Angry Syrians Demand ‘Holding Regime Accountable’ for Tadamon Massacre

Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
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Angry Syrians Demand ‘Holding Regime Accountable’ for Tadamon Massacre

Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian
Snapshot from the video of the Tadamon massacre published by The Guardian

The footage of the Tadamon massacre sparked massive anger among Syrians and opposition activists who called on the international community to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its horrific crimes.

The Guardian released on Wednesday a video clip showing members of branch 227 of the country's military intelligence service carrying out mass executions of civilians in the Tadamon neighborhood, south of Damascus.

The video, dating back to 2013, depicts a group of blindfolded and handcuffed detainees shot dead by a Syrian intelligence officer as they are forced to run toward an execution pit.

It also showed members of the Syrian regime's forces piling bodies on top of each other and burning them.

Opposition activist Ahmed al-Omar said that The Guardian's video and investigative report revealed the mass execution of dozens of civil detainees by the Syrian regime forces in the Tadamon neighborhood.

Omar indicated that the video brought back to people's memory the atrocities and crimes of the regime forces during their raids on Syrian cities and neighborhoods.

He noted that the international community's silence on the regime's crimes against Syrians over the past decade was shocking.

Umm Mazen, 56, the wife of a detainee since 2013, said she felt intense fear and terror when she saw the video.

She indicated that after watching the massacre, she sensed the feeling of every wife and mother whose husband or son is detained by the regime forces and fear that he will be killed in the same way.

The Syrian Islamic Council offered its condolences to the families of the victims of the "horrific crime," adding that the crimes of the Syrian regime continue behind bars.

The statement warned of dire consequences for the returned refugees, adding that a joint constitutional committee or reconciliation is not possible with the presence of these criminals in power.

The National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces said that the world watched one of the massacres of the criminal Assad regime, adding that it is only one crime out of the thousands of bloody massacres carried out by the government and its allies against the Syrian people.

The Coalition stated that the truth known to Syrians is now clear to the whole world, leaving no room for doubt.

In its statement, the Coalition said the massacre in the video is a well-documented "war crime" with perpetrators' information, adding that it requires fair accountability in the International Criminal Court of the criminal regime.

It stressed that there would be no peace in Syria and the region with the presence of this criminal regime that has committed all kinds of atrocities against the Syrians.

It urged an "international accountability" for the crimes, calling for a fair trial of perpetrators.



Türkiye Continues Strikes on PKK in Iraq, Syria Despite Ocalan Call 

Syrian Kurds hold flags as they gather after Türkiye’s jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down its arms, in Hasakah, Syria February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Kurds hold flags as they gather after Türkiye’s jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down its arms, in Hasakah, Syria February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Continues Strikes on PKK in Iraq, Syria Despite Ocalan Call 

Syrian Kurds hold flags as they gather after Türkiye’s jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down its arms, in Hasakah, Syria February 27, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Kurds hold flags as they gather after Türkiye’s jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down its arms, in Hasakah, Syria February 27, 2025. (Reuters)

Türkiye’s armed forces have killed 26 Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria in the week after jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan's disarmament call, the defense ministry said on Thursday.

Ocalan last week called on his outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down its arms and dissolve, and the militant group declared an immediate ceasefire on Saturday.

"The Turkish Armed Forces will continue its operations and search-scanning activities in the region for the survival and security of our country," the defense ministry spokesperson told a weekly press briefing.

"(It) will continue its fight against terrorism with determination and resolve until there is not a single terrorist left," the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson Zeki Akturk said the PKK militants had been "neutralized" in Iraq and Syria, without specifying where the incidents took place. The ministry's use of the term "neutralized" commonly means killed.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye and its Western allies, said it was ready to convene a congress, as Ocalan urged, but the necessary security conditions should be established for him to "personally direct and run" it.

The Syrian Kurdish YPG, the spearhead of the key US ally against ISIS in Syria that Ankara views as an extension of the PKK, has said Ocalan's message did not apply to them.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Türkiye would continue operations against the PKK if the group's process of disarmament is stalled or promises are not kept.

Erdogan's ruling AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said all Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, including the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), must lay down their weapons.