Ex-intelligence officer Amjad Youssef was seen shooting blindfolded civilians in a leaked video. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026Syrian authorities have arrested the main suspect accused of the 2013 Tadamon massacre in Damascus, during which at least 41 people were killed.Amjad Youssef was arrested following a “tightly executed security operation”, the interior ministry said, adding that surveillance and tracking operations were employed for days across the Al-Ghab Plain in Hama.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listFootage circulating on social media showed the moment Youssef was arrested. He is seen handcuffed on the floor and then in a vehicle surrounded by security forces, with traces of blood on his face.An intelligence officer during the leadership of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Youssef was responsible for security operations in southern Damascus during the Syrian uprising. He has been accused of numerous crimes against civilians.In 2022, a leaked video appeared to show evidence of crimes committed by Syrian forces. Youssef, whose face appeared clearly in the footage, was seen shooting civilians who had been detained and blindfolded, with their hands bound.A military recruit filmed the incident and leaked the video, date-stamped on the day of the Tadamon massacre – April 16, 2013, after fleeing war-torn Syria.The release of the video footage triggered an outcry, with some families recognising their relatives being killed in the video.Youssef went into hiding after the fall of Assad in December 2024.The Tadamon district was a battlefront between Syrian government forces and opposition forces at that time.Youssef was trained in military intelligence and rose through the ranks to become an investigator. Advertisement Accountability following the massacreIn August 2023, German police arrested Ahmed al-Harmouni, a friend of Youssef, also accused of taking part in the Tadamon massacre, after a three-year investigation in cooperat …
