Around one-third of Syrians were wanted by Assad regime ‘for political reasons’

By AFP 24 May 2025, 4:32 pm

1 Edit

Bullet holes deface a mural depicting the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Adra town on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus, Syria, December 25, 2024. (Sameer Al-Doumy / AFP)

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba says that more than eight million people were wanted by the intelligence and security services of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December.

Baba tells a press conference in Damascus that “the number of people wanted by the former regime for political reasons exceeds eight million,” adding that “we are talking about around a third of the Syrian people who had records and were wanted by the repressive intelligence and security agencies of the former regime.”