In the village of Nab’ al-Tayyib in the Hama countryside in central Syria, and from inside the home of Amjad Youssef, the main suspect accused of committing the “Tadamon Massacre,” the camera of the “Syria Now” platform revealed new details about the life of the man whose arrest Syrians described as a “new liberation.”
اضافة اعلان
Footage of the house showed that Youssef had deliberately covered the windows of the room where he was staying so that no one in the area would discover him. A correspondent for “Syria Now,” quoting local residents, said that the “Tadamon Butcher” had never been seen walking in the streets.
Residents of the area suggested that Amjad Youssef had taken refuge in the nearby mountains (the Latakia-Hama mountain range), and that he would come down to his house only at night, بعيدًا عن أعين الناس.
The correspondent explained that Youssef had chosen an isolated house surrounded by trees, which allowed him to move secretly between the mountain and the house.
It was also reported that four bags of tobacco, each weighing 5 kilograms, were found in his room, while the room itself was completely free of any smell of smoke. According to his family, this indicated that he used to take the tobacco up to the mountain.
Moment of Arrest
On Friday, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced the arrest of Amjad Youssef, the main suspect accused of carrying out the 2013 Tadamon neighborhood massacre in Damascus.
In a post on X, he wrote: “The criminal Amjad Youssef—the primary accused in the Tadamon massacre—is now in our custody after a well-planned security operation.”
Khattab added that Amjad Youssef “was not the first criminal to fall into our hands, and he will not be the last, God willing. We will continue pursuing criminals one by one to bring them to justice so they receive punishment for what they committed.”
He also renewed the pledge to the families of the victims that no effort would be spared until every criminal is brought to justice.
A video published by the Syrian Ministry of Interior showed the moment of arrest. The ministry revealed that the arrest came after months of surveillance and precise security monitoring, which intensified during the final stage about a month before the operation, when his approximate location was identified in Nab’ al-Tayyib village in Hama countryside.
The spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry, Nour al-Din al-Baba, told Al Jazeera that the arrest was based on field intelligence and was carried out without loss of life, adding that his trial would be public.
According to the spokesperson, Youssef had been hiding since the fall of the former regime in late 2024, relying on networks—some local and others with external ties linked to the former regime. He frequently changed his place of residence and even altered his physical appearance.
He also stated that the investigation is progressing quickly, describing Youssef as “a very deep well” of information regarding the Tadamon massacre. After the completion of security investigations, the case will be referred to the Ministry of Justice and the General Authority for Transitional Justice.
Face-to-Face with the Interior Minister
Video footage also showed Interior Minister Anas Khattab confronting Youssef, asking him: “Don’t you have children? Don’t you have a heart?”
Youssef replied: “Yes, I have a daughter and a son.”
The minister continued: “Don’t you have a heart to kill people this way?” referring to the footage related to the massacre.
He added: “What you did was not the act of someone seeking revenge, but of someone without humanity.”
Public Joy and Painful Memories
Following the announcement of his arrest, residents of many Syrian cities and villages celebrated what they described as a “new day of liberation,” while also demanding a fair trial and justice for the man they accused of killing their loved ones before their eyes.
However, amid scenes of celebration, takbir chants, sweets distribution, and fireworks, another voice emerged—that of the families of the victims of the Tadamon massacre, who were once again confronted with painful memories.
Many relatives of the victims recalled the massacre in interviews with the “Syria Now” platform, remembering their sons and loved ones who were killed.
Who Is Amjad Youssef and What Happened in the Tadamon Massacre?
In 2013, a horrific massacre took place on Nusrin Street in the Tadamon neighborhood adjacent to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.
Its details were not revealed until nearly nine years later, when the British newspaper The Guardian published a video on April 27, 2022, reportedly leaked by a recruit in a militia loyal to the Syrian regime.
The video showed regime-affiliated forces killing 41 civilians, including women and children.
It showed armed men in military uniforms forcing civilians to run in the street after misleading them into believing there was a sniper nearby. Their hands were tied behind their backs and their eyes were blindfolded.
The victims were then shot and thrown into a deep pit prepared in advance. Their bodies were later piled on top of each other, covered with tires and wood, doused with fuel, and burned.
According to The Guardian’s investigation, most of the victims were young and middle-aged people, in addition to women, children, and elderly individuals.
The investigation later identified Amjad Youssef as the person supervising the executions.
After the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, Amjad Youssef became one of the most prominent suspects wanted for justice over the crimes attributed to him.
(Al Jazeera)
