Syria’s Interior Ministry announced, Tuesday 30 December, the arrest of Colonel Adeeb Ali Suleiman, who previously headed Branch 220 of the Military Intelligence Directorate, known as the Sa’sa Branch, during the rule of the previous regime.
According to preliminary investigation results, Tartus Internal Security commander Colonel Abdulal Mohammed Abdulal said Suleiman played direct roles in managing and coordinating security and military activities.
He added that these activities included facilitating the entry of foreign armed groups into Syria, including members of foreign militias and Hezbollah, and redeploying them in southern Syria, particularly in Quneitra governorate (southwestern Syria, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights).
The investigations, according to the Interior Ministry, also indicated that Suleiman was involved in organized smuggling networks, in coordination with Hezbollah leaders, including bringing narcotics through illegal crossings with the intent of smuggling them out of the country.
The ministry said he also supervised large-scale recruitment into armed auxiliary forces aligned with the defunct regime’s forces, and maintained direct ties with external parties.
The Interior Ministry confirmed that the accused has been referred to the competent judiciary to complete the investigation and take the necessary legal measures against him.
What is Branch 220?
Branch 220, known as the Front Intelligence Branch and commonly referred to as the Sa’sa Branch, falls under the Military Intelligence Directorate within the intelligence hierarchy of the Assad-era system.
The branch specialized in intelligence affairs related to the occupied Golan and “front” forces, and also monitored the international peacekeeping forces operating there. It is located in Sa’sa (a town in Rural Damascus governorate, southwest of Damascus), administratively affiliated with the Qatana subdistrict (Rural Damascus).
The branch became known for committing serious violations against residents in the areas under its security oversight, most notably the liquidation of detainees during the Syrian revolution.
The branch also played a prominent role in shelling towns that rose up against the Assad regime in the area, including Kinnaker, Zakiya, and Beit Jin (all in Rural Damascus), extending toward Quneitra and nearby Daraa countryside villages such as Kafr Nasij and Deir al-Adas (northern Daraa).
A previous operation
On 29 December, Syria’s Interior Ministry announced the arrest of Dhu al-Fiqar Mahmoud Deeb, whom it described as “one of the former regime’s elements.”
The ministry noted that the Internal Security Directorate in the Jableh area carried out the operation with high precision in the village of Baabdeh in the countryside of Jableh (south of Latakia city, on Syria’s Mediterranean coast), describing it as a “high-quality” operation.
It added that preliminary investigations showed the suspect’s involvement in attacks that targeted Syrian army and Internal Security positions on the coast on 6 March, as well as his alleged involvement in mutilating the bodies of those killed in those attacks.
The Interior Ministry said the operation falls within its continued efforts to pursue remnants of the former regime and anyone who threatens the security of the country and its citizens.
It added that “justice will take its course,” and that security services will continue their work “relentlessly” until “all pockets of terrorism” are uprooted, according to the ministry.
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