Syrian security forces searched the city of Homs on Thursday for former soldiers and pro-Assad militants who have refused to hand over their weapons, state media said.
SANA news agency quoted a military official as saying that rebels who ousted longtime President Bashar al-Assad had set up centers in Homs to arm soldiers and militants in a process being carried out in other parts of Syria. .
The report said the new Syrian authorities had received reports weeks earlier that there were remains of pro-Assad fighters in Homs.
A few dozen protesters gathered in the Syrian city of Douma on Wednesday to demand answers into the disappearance of four prominent activists who were kidnapped more than a decade ago.
Protesters called on Syria’s new rulers – Islamist-led rebels who seized power last month – to investigate what happened to them.
The activists in question are Razan Zaitouneh, her husband, Wael Hamadeh, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi.
On 9 December 2013, unidentified gunmen attacked the Violations Documentation Center in Douma, northeast of Damascus, and abducted four activists. The center was established in 2011 to monitor human rights violations in Syria. At the time, Douma was occupied by rebels.
There has been no sign of life or evidence of death since his abduction.
Zaitouneh was one of Syria’s most prominent human rights activists, as she documented abuses by then-President Assad’s government and rebel groups alike.
Zaitouneh’s work has brought her global recognition, including the International Women of Courage Award presented by then-US First Lady Michelle Obama in 2013.
At Wednesday’s protest, protesters carried photographs of missing workers.
“We are here because we want to know the whole truth about those two women and two men who disappeared from this place 11 years and 22 days ago,” said activist Yassin al-Hajj Saleh, whose wife, Khalil, She was among the kidnapped people.
“We are gathering here to remind the world of their case,” he said. “This is the first opportunity that allows us to be in Douma and in front of the place where he was kidnapped, to talk about the case, taking advantage of the political change that has occurred in the country.”
Protests have been taking place across the country since the ouster of the Assad government last month, demanding information about thousands of people who have been forcibly disappeared under Assad’s rule.
Syria’s transitional government – led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which ousted Assad – has remained neutral regarding allegations against various armed groups in the enforced disappearances of activists. HTS has also formed alliances with activists in efforts to seek truth and justice.
“We are here because we want the truth. The truth about their fate and justice for them, so that we can heal our wounds,” said Alaa al-Mari, Khalil’s niece.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but indications point to the Army of Islam, which was the most powerful rebel group in Douma at the time. The group has long denied involvement.
Zaitouneh had received threats from both the government and rebels before his disappearance. Friends and activists have said that some of the threats can be traced to the Army of Islam.
Protesters on Wednesday held banners accusing the Army of Islam of kidnapping.
“We have enough evidence to convict Jaysh al-Islam, and we have the names of the suspects we want to investigate,” Haj Saleh said, using another name for the group.
He said he wanted “the criminals to be tried in Syrian courts.”
The Army of Islam remains an armed group supported by Türkiye. It is excluded from the Syrian leadership led by HTS.
Some information in this report comes from the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.