Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

In a desolate area of Syria where Lebanese militant group Hezbollah once held sway, security forces shot open the gates to an abandoned building and found a defunct drug factory.

Syria’s new authorities launched a security campaign last week around Qusayr at the porous Lebanese border, cracking down on drug and weapons smugglers.

They have also accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which for years propped up Bashar al-Assad, of firing at them in clashes in the weeks since his ouster.

“We’ve begun to comb factories used by Hezbollah and remnants of the defunct regime,” said Major Nadim Madkhana, who heads Syria’s border security force in Homs province near Lebanon.

Before Syria’s war erupted in 2011, Syrians and Lebanese lived side by side in the border area — a mostly tribal region long renowned for smuggling.

In April 2013, Hezbollah announced it was fighting alongside Mr. Assad’s forces and leading battles in the Qusayr area, a rebel stronghold at the time.

After weeks of battles that displaced thousands of Syrians, Hezbollah seized control of the area, establishing bases and weapons depots and digging tunnels — which Israel repeatedly targeted in subsequent years.

Hezbollah’s support for Mr. Assad was as much an act of loyalty for its fellow member of the “axis of resistance” as it was a necessity for its own survival, with Syria acting as its weapons conduit from Iran.

“Under the defunct regime, this area was an economic lifeline for Hezbollah and drug and arms traders traffickers,” Mr. Madkhana said.

In the building raided by Syrian border security, AFP correspondents saw large bags of captagon pills — a potent synthetic drug mass-produced under Assad that sparked an addiction crisis in the region.

Both the sanctions-hit ousted government and Hezbollah, which is proscribed as a “terrorist organisation”, have faced accusations of using the captagon trade to finance themselves.

In the months leading up to Mr. Assad’s December 8 ouster, Hezbollah pulled many of its militants back to Lebanon to fight an all-out war with Israel.

But it was only after his overthrow that it rushed the majority of its forces and allies out of the country. Attesting to the speed of the pullout, plates of food were left to rot in the kitchen of one facility.

Drug traffickers

Snow-speckled dirt tracks leading to the facilities still bear marks left by barricades that smugglers had set up “to delay our advance”, Mr. Madkhana said.

In recent days, Syrian forces have clashed with “Hezbollah loyalists and regime remnants” in the area, some of them armed with rocket launchers, he added.

Charred vehicles lay by the side of the road, near damaged luxury villas built by drug traffickers, residents told AFP.

Hezbollah provided cover for Lebanese and Syrian smugglers operating at the border, according to residents of the area.

After more than five decades of rule by the Assads, the rebels that once fought his army are now running the country, and that has had a knock-on effect on neighbouring Lebanon.

Earlier this week, Mr. Madkhana told AFP Syrian forces had started coordinating with the Lebanese army at the border.

Last week, the Lebanese army said it was responding to incoming fire from across the Syrian border.

Syria shares a 330-kilometre (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation, making it ideal turf for smugglers.

‘Banned from returning’

Since Assad’s ouster, Syrians displaced during the war have started returning home to Qusayr.

After spending almost half of his life as a refugee in northern Lebanon, Hassan Amer, 21, was thrilled to return.

“I was young when I left, I don’t know much about Qusayr,” he said, painting the walls of his house with help from neighbours and families.

“We returned the day after the regime fell,” he said, beaming with pride.

Hezbollah “took over Qusayr and made it theirs while its people were banned from returning,” he said, adding that schools and public institutions had been turned into bases.

In 2019, Hezbollah said residents of Qusayr could return home, citing a decision by Assad’s government.

Mohammed Nasser, 22, and his mother were among the lucky ones allowed back in 2021.

“My elderly grandfather was alone here… and I was under 18,” he said, meaning he was not yet due for conscription.

His father stayed in Lebanon, fearing arrest. For years, Nasser’s family and a couple of others were the only Syrians living in the area, he said, while Lebanese “loyal to Hezbollah lived in the less-damaged houses”.

Nasser’s 84-year-old grandfather, also named Mohammed, recalled the day Assad and his family fled.

“On liberation day, they fled… and the town’s people came back at night, before sunrise, to the sound of the call to prayer,” he said.

Syria’s new authorities on Friday announced the arrest of a cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, accused of orchestrating a crackdown in Daraa, where the 2011 uprising began.

Atif Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa in southern Syria, was arrested in Latakia, on the country’s west coast, the official SANA news agency reported, citing a senior security official.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said he is the highest-ranking figure to be detained since Islamist-led fighters seized toppled Assad on December 8.

“The criminal Atif Najib has been referred to the competent authorities to be tried and held accountable for the crimes he committed against the Syrian people,” SANA reported.

The protest movement against Assad began in Daraa on March 15, 2011, after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the city’s walls.

Residents said the students were tortured, leading to a protest to demand their release that ended in bloodshed.

Najib, blamed for the crackdown, was dismissed soon after. He was on a US Treasury sanctions list alongside other Syrian officials.

The nationwide uprising was brutally crushed by Assad, spiralling into a civil war that has killed more than half a million people.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

US said Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following fall of Assad regime.

Businessman Kamel Amin Thaabet arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus in 1962. He threw lavish parties, became part of the city’s social elite and quickly gained access to the country’s most powerful men. Three years later, he was publicly executed in central Damascus’ Marjeh Square. Why? Because Kamel Thaabet was Eli Cohen, an elite spy working for Israel’s Mossad. 

Israeli authorities are intensifying efforts to recover Cohen’s body. Known as one of Israel’s most legendary spies, Cohen’s infiltration of Syria’s political and military elite provided intelligence crucial to Israel’s success in the 1967 Six-Day War. Despite decades of attempts, the location of Cohen’s burial site is undisclosed, with Syrian authorities reportedly relocating his body multiple times to prevent their retrieval.

Cohen was born in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt, to a family of Egyptian Jews. Following the establishment of Israel in 1948, Cohen’s family immigrated to the newly founded state. Cohen himself followed in 1957, after years of Zionist activism that reportedly included aiding the covert migration of Egyptian Jews to Israel.

After serving in Israeli military intelligence, Cohen was recruited by Mossad in the early 1960s. Using his fluency in Arabic, Spanish, and French, Mossad crafted an elaborate cover identity for Cohen. He became Kamel Amin Thaabet, a Syrian businessman whose family had emigrated to Argentina. Cohen relocated to Buenos Aires, where he ingrained himself within the Arab and Syrian diasporas, gaining trust and access that would later prove critical to his mission.

In 1962, Cohen moved to Damascus under his assumed identity, where he quickly ascended to prominence within Syrian society. Known for hosting lavish parties attended by influential political and military figures, Cohen used these gatherings to extract valuable intelligence. His efforts yielded detailed information about Syrian fortifications in the Golan Heights, later aiding Israel’s capture of the territory in the Six-Day War.

Cohen’s espionage activities, however, came to an abrupt end in 1965. Syrian intelligence, with assistance from the Soviet Union, identified his covert radio transmissions to Israel. On January 24, 1965, Syrian authorities raided his home. Cohen was arrested, tried, and convicted of espionage.

Despite international pleas for clemency, Cohen was publicly hanged on May 18, 1965.

Since his execution, the whereabouts of Cohen’s body have been a source of contention. Syria has consistently refused Israeli requests to repatriate his body, rejecting multiple offers of prisoner exchanges. Syrian officials have admitted to relocating it multiple times to thwart Israeli recovery attempts.

In 2018, Mossad successfully retrieved Cohen’s wristwatch from Syria. 

The collapse of the Assad regime in parts of Syria has created new opportunities for negotiation. Reports suggest that Israeli officials, including Mossad Director David Barnea, are directly involved in talks with former members of the Assad government. These discussions are reportedly facilitated by Russian mediators.

Asma al-Assad, wife of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is reportedly battling leukemia, an aggressive cancer of the bone marrow and blood, and has a 50-50 chance of survival. The British-born former first lady has been isolated to minimize the risk of infection and is undergoing treatment, reported The Telegraph.

According to the report, Asma has previously battled breast cancer in 2019. She had declared herself cancer-free after a year of treatment. But the blood cancer is believed to have reappeared after a period of remission, the report said.

Born in London in 1975 to Syrian parents, Asma al-Assad has a dual British-Syrian citizenship. She completed degrees in computer science and French literature at King’s College London before pursuing a career in investment banking. Asma married Bashar al-Assad in December 2000. The couple has three children: Hafez, Zein, and Karim.

Asma has reportedly sought to exile herself in London with her children since the Syrian uprising began. Reports suggested that she has also filed for divorce from the ousted Syrian President as she is “dissatisfied” with her life in Moscow. However, the Kremlin has rejected the reports, saying, “No they do not correspond to reality”.

She has also allegedly applied to a Russian court seeking special permission to leave the country, with her application currently under review by Russian authorities.

Bashar al-Assad, along with his family, fled Syria on December 8 following an 11-day rebel offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), after years of civil war sparked by his violent crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011. The war has killed over 500,000 people and displaced more than half the country’s population.

Assad, now residing under asylum in Moscow, is reportedly facing severe restrictions imposed by Russian authorities. While his asylum request was accepted, he is prohibited from leaving Moscow or engaging in political activities. The Russian authorities have also reportedly frozen his assets – a claim denied by the Kremlin.

Syria’s new interior minister said Wednesday that 14 personnel were killed by “remnants” of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad’s “regime” in Tartus province, after a war monitor reported deadly clashes in the region.

Interior Minister Mohammed Abdel Rahman said in a statement that “14 interior ministry personnel were killed and 10 others wounded after… a treacherous ambush by remnants of the criminal regime” in Tartus province “while performing their tasks of maintaining security and safety”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) that they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkiye.

The SDF is Washington’s critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country’s east.

Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it.

The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women’s Protection Unit, or YPJ, under the SDF, said that their fighters are just over seven miles away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counter-offensive.

She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group’s influence in negotiations over Syria’s political future through the SNA.

“Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country,” Ms. Jamal said. “Turkiye is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus.”

The Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says since the SNA’s offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed.

Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organisation. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large shared border.

While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Mr. Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria’s second key actor for its political future.

On Monday (December 23, 2024), the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group’s forces pushed back the Turkish-backed rebels from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the rebels southeast of Manbij.

The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam.

Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days.

During Syria’s uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the rebels trying to overthrow him.

Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara’s position won’t change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS.

“It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Europe,” Mr. Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. “The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides (against IS).”

With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong IS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremist group’s scattered sleeper cells.

Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of IS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the Ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement on Tuesday (December 24, 2024) with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the Defence Ministry, according to a statement from the new administration.

Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir had said last week that the Ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Bashar al-Assad’s army.

Mr. Sharaa will face the daunting task of trying to avoid clashes between the myriad groups.

Syria’s new rulers appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defence minister in the interim government.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.