Learn about the map of mass graves in Syria after the fall of the Assad regime

Since the fall of the regime of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians have not stopped finding mass graves in various parts of the country, especially in the Damascus countryside.

The number of mass graves discovered is increasing daily, according to documentation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is estimated that there are thousands of people who have disappeared and whose fate has not yet been determined, after being arrested by security forces during the Assad era.

Earlier, the Deputy Director of the Syrian Civil Defense for Humanitarian Affairs, Munir Mustafa, said that 16 graves have been discovered so far in different areas of Syria, where the former Syrian regime used scattered areas to bury victims en masse.

Syrian and international organizations confirm that the ousted regime tortured and killed tens of thousands in prisons. After the fall of the regime on December 8, demands have escalated to reveal the fate of those forcibly disappeared in Syria, whose numbers are estimated at more than 100,000 people.

Al-Qatif city

Seventy kilometers north of the capital Damascus, the largest mass grave was discovered in the city of Al-Qutayfah, where press reports indicate that the number of people buried there is estimated at tens of thousands. The Syrian authorities have tightened control over the area and closed the road leading to it to prevent tampering with it, which has made it more difficult to reach the site and document its details.

Moadamiyeh al-Sham

Thirty kilometers south of Damascus, horrific chapters of the tragedy of the city of Moadamiyet al-Sham in the Damascus Ghouta unfolded. According to testimonies of those who documented the crimes, the popular committees led by Alaa al-Mahmoud, known as “the butcher” - and in cooperation with the Fourth Division and Air Force Intelligence - were liquidating civilians on the international highway passing through the city. The victims, who were often from rebellious cities, were executed in brutal ways that ranged from shooting, slaughtering, strangulation, and even burning.

Qaboun neighborhood

Near Tishreen Military Hospital, testimonies indicate the presence of a mass grave surrounded by a mined area, which prevented civil defense teams from approaching the site.

South Damascus

Near the conference palace, there are excavations used as mass graves. Information indicates that the bodies of dead soldiers and militiamen have been transported to this area in recent days, and regular excavations have been observed around the site, reinforcing the hypothesis that it was used as a secret burial site. Only a few hundred meters away, there is the Husseiniya cemetery, where long excavations for mass burials are visible, and witness testimonies confirm that burials there were carried out periodically.

Baghdad Bridge Cemetery

North of Damascus, the remains of people arrested over the past years were found, some of them placed in bags with only names or numbers. Despite the efforts made, only a few parts of these graves have been opened due to the lack of technical capabilities.

The bodies in the Baghdad Bridge cemetery are believed to be civilians killed under torture in the prisons of the collapsed Syrian regime, including Sednaya. Anadolu Agency reported that bags believed to contain prison codes and the names of the dead were found in long, deep pits with bodies buried on top of each other.

City of Al-Sanamayn

Residents of the 9th Division area in the city of Al-Sanamayn in the northern countryside of Daraa Governorate found a mass grave. After digging the grave, it was found to contain the remains of buried bodies, bones and clothes, according to the Daraa 24 news website.

Izraa city

Residents of the outskirts of Izraa city in the central countryside of Daraa found a similar grave in the Kuwaiti farm. It turned out that the bodies date back more than 10 years. The area was under the control of militias affiliated with the Military Security Branch, and 31 bodies were exhumed, including women and a child. These bodies were buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery on the Sheikh Miskeen-Izraa road.

Umm Al Qusur Village

A mass grave was found in the vicinity of the village of Umm al-Qusur, located on the administrative border between Daraa and the Damascus countryside. The photos showed that the bodies were old, and only bones remained.

Kuwaiti farm

Locals found a mass grave in the Kuwaiti farm on the outskirts of the city of Izraa in the central countryside of Daraa, where the area was under the control of a militia affiliated with the Military Security Branch. 31 bodies, including women and a child, were exhumed and buried in the Martyrs' Cemetery on the Sheikh Miskeen-Izraa road.

Aleppo
The Syrian caretaker Interior Ministry announced the discovery of a mass grave in the city of Aleppo, containing at least 400 bodies. The Aleppo Police Command in northern Syria reported that five mass graves were found in the city, while official documents showed that thousands of torture victims were buried in those graves.

According to eyewitnesses, 7,000 bodies were buried in Khan al-Assal, west of Aleppo, most of them civilians who died under torture. Documents also showed that 1,500 detainees who died under torture were buried in the New Aleppo Cemetery, and another 1,200 detainees were buried in the Naqarin Cemetery in Aleppo.

hummus

The Syrian Civil Defense announced the discovery of three new mass graves in the village of Al-Qabou in the Homs countryside in central Syria. It confirmed that its members recovered 20 bodies, noting that the search is ongoing at the site. The Deputy Director of the Syrian Civil Defense for Humanitarian Affairs, Munir Mustafa, said that they are trying to determine the identities of the bodies found in the village, explaining that they found completely burned bodies inside small bags. He added that a specialized team has been trained to identify the bodies in the discovered graves.

Civil Defense warns against exhuming mass graves

The Syrian Civil Defense (White Helmets) called on Syrians not to exhume mass graves and tamper with evidence, stressing that unprofessional interventions in these graves represent a violation of the dignity and rights of the victims and their families, and lead to serious damage to the crime scene and forensic evidence that could help uncover the fate of the missing and hold accountable those involved in the crimes of their disappearance.

The Civil Defense explained that these actions hinder justice efforts, increase the suffering of families who are eagerly waiting to know the fate of their children, and undermine future efforts to achieve accountability and justice. It called for not going to the sites of mass graves and not to exhume or open any grave.

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