Amjad Youssef

Amjad Youssef
Amjad Youssef in 2026
Native name
أمجد يوسف
Born1986 (age 39–40)
Nabe al-Tayeb, Syria
Allegiance Ba'athist Syria
Branch
Military Intelligence Directorate
Service years
2004–2024
Rank
Warrant officer
Unit227 (Rif Dimashq)
Known forTadamon Massacre
Alma materMaysalun Military Intelligence Academy

Amjad Youssef (born 1986) is a former Syrian Military Intelligence officer under the Assad regime. He is the main suspected perpetrator of the Tadamon massacre in 2013.

Early life

Amjad Youssef was born in 1986 in the Ghab Plain village of Nabe al-Tayeb northwest of Hama, and grew up in a large family of 10 siblings.[1] Youssef has a daughter and a son.[2][3]

Career

Youssef joined the Military Intelligence Academy in Maysalun in 2004.[1] After 9 months, he graduated as a sergeant and later became a warrant officer and deputy head of Syrian Military Intelligence Branch 227 in Rif Dimashq, where he was responsible for investigating, arresting, torturing and killing political opponents during the 2011 Syrian civil war.[1][4] He commanded battles in the south of Damascus in Tadamon and Yarmouk, where he was responsible for security operations until 2021, and in 2022 worked at the Kafr Sousa security complex in Damascus.[1][4]

Massacre

Main article: Tadamon massacre

On 16 April 2013, the Tadamon massacre occurred.[5] Syrian Ba'athist forces headed by Youssef brought around 288 civilians to a ditch prepared for cremation with a layer of tires.[5][6] Youssef and his group mocked the blindfolded and bound civilians before they shot over 40 of them, including 7 women and 15 children, pretending to lead them to safety and telling them to run toward the ditch.[7][8] The piles of dead civilians were covered with more tires, burned, and buried in a mass grave.[1][5][6] The victims were mostly Sunni Muslims.[1][9][10]

In 2021, Youssef was identified as one of the leading perpetrators, having been recorded shooting several blindfolded and bound civilians at the ditch.[8]

In 2023, the United States[11] and the European Union[4] placed sanctions on him for his involvement in the massacre, followed by the United Kingdom in 2025.[12]

After the fall of the Assad regime in 2024, Youssef hid from neighbors and authorities for over a year, moving at night between his family's rural home in Nabe al-Tayeb, the forested Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, and rural Qardaha District.[1][9]

Arrest

On 24 April 2026, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced on X that Amjad Youssef was apprehended in the Ghab Plain area in Hama after a successful security operation.[13][14] Security forces had surveilled Youssef for about two weeks, secured the area by air and by checkpoints, and finally arrested him in his bedroom without incident.[15] Authorities also arrested Youssef's father and several others for sheltering him.[9]

On 25 April 2026, the Syrian Ministry of Interior released Youssef's alleged confession to participating in the massacre.[6][16] In it, Youssef claimed full responsibility for the whole Tadamon massacre, in an apparent attempt to protect others involved, including superior officers.[10][17][18]

Although the National Commission for Transitional Justice began preparing criminal cases against Youssef and other Assad regime actors, Syria still lacked specific laws on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and witness protection, highlighting the need for new legislation by the People's Assembly to formalize these charges.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "من هو أمجد يوسف مرتكب مجزرة التضامن؟" [Who is Amjad Youssef, perpetrator of the Tadamon massacre?]. Al Jazeera (in Arabic). 24 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  2. ^ Al-Jnaidi, Laith (25 April 2026). "'Don't you have children?': Syria interior minister interrogates suspect in 2013 Tadamon massacre after his arrest". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  3. ^ "Syrian Interior Minister Confronts 'Tadamon Butcher' Face-to-Face in a Shocking Moment". Al Mahriah. 24 April 2026. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  4. ^ a b c "Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2025/1095 of 27 May 2025 implementing Decision 2013/255/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria". EUR-Lex. Council of the European Union. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  5. ^ a b c Üngör, Uğur Ümit; Shahhoud, Annsar (27 April 2022). "How a Massacre of Nearly 300 in Syria Was Revealed". New Lines Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  6. ^ a b c "Amjad Youssef Admits al-Tadamon Massacre Role". Enab Baladi. 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  7. ^ Uddin, Rayhan (24 April 2026). "Amjad Youssef, key perpetrator of Tadamon massacre, arrested in Syria". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  8. ^ a b Chulov, Martin (26 April 2022). "Massacre in Tadamon: how two academics hunted down a Syrian war criminal". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Shahdawi, Yazan (28 April 2026). "How Syrian Forces Captured the Man Behind the Tadamon Massacre". New Lines Magazine. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
  10. ^ a b Tello, Anan (6 May 2026). "How a key arrest is rekindling dreams of justice for Syria's Tadamon massacre". Arab News. Retrieved 6 May 2026.
  11. ^ Hansler, Jennifer (6 March 2023). "US imposes visa sanction on Syrian military official over massacre that killed at least 41 unarmed civilians". CNN. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  12. ^ "Amjad YOUSSEF". Gov.uk. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  13. ^ Safi, Michael; Ingleby, Melvyn (24 April 2026). "Syria arrests suspected leader of Tadamon massacre". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  14. ^ Dalatey, Feras (24 April 2026). "Main suspect in Syria's Tadamon massacre arrested, ministry says". Reuters. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  15. ^ "Amjad Youssef's Confession Puts the Tadamon Massacre Back at the Center of Syria's Justice Debate". Syrian Observer. 27 April 2026. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  16. ^ "Syria releases confession of key suspect in civil war massacre". Rudaw. 26 April 2026. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  17. ^ a b Ingleby, Melvyn; Christou, William (4 May 2026). "Security or justice? Syria faces post-Assad reckoning after string of arrests - New government accused of 'performative justice' and making deals with suspects in 2013 Tadamon massacres". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  18. ^ a b Al-Rawi, Mohammad Qassim (26 April 2026). "Arrest of Amjad Youssef highlights accountability drive in Syria's transitional justice". Syrian Arab News Agency. Retrieved 26 April 2026.

Further reading

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