- Investigators say pilots logged more than 3,200 flight hours
- Arrests are part of new government’s efforts to pursue alleged war crimes
DAMASCUS, September 12, 2026 (Agencies): Syrian authorities have arrested nine former military pilots accused of taking part in airstrikes and other attacks during the country’s 14-year civil war, officials said, as the post-Bashar Assad government steps up efforts to hold alleged perpetrators accountable, state news agency SANA reported.
The pilots were arrested in the western province of Latakia in operations carried out by Internal Security forces in coordination with the Counterterrorism Branch, Latakia Internal Security Commander Brig. Gen. Abdulaziz Al-Ahmad said on Thursday.
The arrests followed surveillance, intelligence gathering and investigations, along with a series of security operations across the province, SANA reported Thursday, citing Al-Ahmad.
Preliminary investigations showed that the nine pilots had logged more than 3,200 flight hours since the start of the 2011 uprising, an Interior Ministry source quoted by SANA said on Friday.
The pilots allegedly operated several types of military aircraft, including Mi-24 attack helicopters and Su-22, MiG-29 and MiG-21 fighter jets. They carried out airstrikes in several parts of Syria, particularly Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus countryside, Aleppo city and countryside, Deir Ezzor and its surrounding areas, and the countryside of Hama, according to the ministry source.
Their duties allegedly included combat sorties, attacks on rebel positions and population centers, strikes against vital facilities, close air support, reconnaissance and target identification.
The source said the pilots also prepared aircraft with different types of explosive munitions and carried out technical and operational checks before missions. They allegedly identified target locations and coordinates, prepared targeting data and guided aircraft during operations.
Some of the pilots also allegedly transported officers of the former Assad government to combat areas and military positions, the source said.
Al-Ahmad told SANA the nine were involved in operations that killed and wounded large numbers of civilians and caused widespread damage to towns and cities, homes, civilian facilities and infrastructure, as well as the displacement of residents.
The arrests are part of a broader effort by Syria’s new authorities to pursue alleged perpetrators of abuses committed during the war that began in 2011 with protests against Assad’s government and evolved into a complex conflict involving government forces, opposition groups, extremist organizations and foreign powers.
The conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions inside and outside the country. Assad’s forces, backed by Russia and Iran, regained control over much of Syria after years of fighting, but his government collapsed rapidly in December 2024 after a rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham and allied opposition forces.
Assad fled Syria on Dec. 8, 2024, ending more than five decades of rule by his family. The UN described his fall as an opportunity for Syrians to pursue justice, reconciliation and a new political future.
The collapse of the former government also opened access to detention centers and government archives that had previously been largely inaccessible to international investigators. The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism, established by the UN to assist investigations and prosecutions of the most serious crimes committed in Syria since March 2011, has highlighted the need to preserve evidence of atrocities attributed to the former government and other parties to the conflict.
The mechanism said in December 2025 that Syria’s establishment of national commissions for transitional justice and missing persons represented an important development. By April 2026, it said Syria’s Justice and Interior ministries had apprehended thousands of alleged perpetrators, although it cautioned that the accountability process remained partial and faced significant challenges.
International investigators have documented extensive abuses during the conflict, including torture, enforced disappearances and attacks on civilians. A UN mechanism said its analysis of the former government’s detention system was based on hundreds of witness interviews, official documents, forensic evidence and other material gathered to support future judicial proceedings.
The pursuit of former regime figures has already reached Assad himself. In August 2026, a Syrian court sentenced Assad to death in absentia after convicting him of crimes including intentional murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. Assad, who is living in Russia, was tried in absentia