Syrian opposition groups and humanitarian organizations have uncovered a massive burial site near the capital Damascus, a grim discovery that could hold the remains of over 100,000 victims allegedly killed under the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. The mass grave at al-Qutayfah, located about 25 miles north of Damascus, is among several burial sites surfacing as rescue workers and NGOs begin to unearth evidence of atrocities spanning decades of Assad family rule.
Mouaz Moustafa, head of the U.S.-based Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), described the site as "massive," with trenches measuring six to seven meters deep, three to four meters wide, and extending up to 150 meters in length.
"In my conversation with the gravediggers, they told me that four tractor-trailer trucks, each carrying over 150 bodies, came twice a week from 2012 until 2018," Moustafa told ABC News. "The bulldozer excavator driver described how intelligence officers forced workers to flatten and compress the bodies to make them easier to bury before digging the next trench."
The discovery has triggered a new wave of calls for accountability from the international community and Syria's transitional government. The leader of the newly formed administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa-also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani-pledged justice for the victims.
"We will not hesitate to hold accountable the criminals, murderers, security and army officers involved in torturing the Syrian people," al-Sharaa said. "We're gathering and collecting evidence and call on the United Nations and international institutions to help document the crimes committed by the regime."
The al-Qutayfah site, which remained under tight military control during the conflict, sheds light on the alleged systematic nature of the killings. Witnesses reported that bodies were routinely transported from prisons, hospitals, and detention facilities operated by Syria's feared Air Force Intelligence agency-a branch notorious for its role in extrajudicial executions and torture.
Locals near the site described seeing large black bags being dumped in the area in the days leading up to Assad's ouster. Videos shared with media outlets showed rescue workers in protective suits piling human remains into trucks, some of which bore labels written in Farsi, Iran's official language. Iran, along with Russia, was one of Assad's closest allies during the conflict.
The grim discovery at al-Qutayfah is not an isolated case. Reports indicate the existence of at least 12 other mass graves across southern Syria, where rescue teams have exhumed dozens of bodies, including women and children, showing signs of torture and execution. Ugur Umit Ungor, a professor of genocide studies at the University of Amsterdam, underscored the importance of preserving evidence to provide closure for victims' families.
"The true scale of exactly how many mass graves are out there is only to be found in the archives of the Assad regime," Ungor told Al Jazeera. "It is absolutely crucial that these sites are handled professionally, and that people don't go pillaging them."
Human rights organizations are calling for the immediate preservation of physical evidence. Human Rights Watch recently visited the southern Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon, where remains of victims were discovered in pits that bore signs of executions. The group has urged Syria's interim government to prevent tampering or destruction of mass grave sites.
The fall of Damascus on December 8 marked a stunning and abrupt end to Bashar al-Assad's 24-year rule, culminating in his flight to Russia amid a multi-front rebel offensive. The conflict, which erupted in 2011, has left Syria in ruins, with hundreds of thousands missing, presumed dead, or imprisoned. Assad's statement following his ouster blamed a "terrorist onslaught" for his regime's collapse and offered no acknowledgment of the human rights allegations levied against him.
"These mass graves hold the secrets of 54 years of despotism, torture, and dictatorship," Al Jazeera's Mohammed Vall reported. "This is only the beginning."
As international organizations ramp up their efforts to identify victims, experts have called for the creation of a centralized DNA database to help families locate and identify missing loved ones.
