The “National Guard,” affiliated with Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, the spiritual leader of the Druze monotheist community in Suwayda (southern Syria), announced the detention of driver Ali Hassan Samir “on charges of belonging to the Syrian Ministry of Defense and carrying out espionage activities for Damascus,” according to the group.
The “National Guard” said in a statement on Friday, 29 May, that a truck driven by Ali Samir was stopped on 24 May after it arrived via the al-Thaala road from the western countryside, which is controlled by the Syrian government. The group added that the route has been unusual for truck movement since July 2025, raising suspicions.
The “Guard” said that “after checking the driver’s identity and searching his phone, photos and video clips were found documenting victims’ bodies, scenes of Syrian Ministry of Defense fighters during what the group described as their participation in the Suwayda massacres, as well as footage from the clashes in Suwayda,” according to the group.
It confirmed that the detainee was referred to the military judiciary, which is also affiliated with the administration appointed by al-Hijri. It added that he “admitted during preliminary investigations that he was a volunteer in the Ministry of Defense and worked as a truck driver for espionage purposes, acknowledged his participation in last July’s attack, and provided information about people who appeared in the recorded clips.”
The group said the detainee comes from the town of Marj al-Sultan in eastern rural Damascus, noting that his family was informed of his detention on the first day.
The Syrian government has not announced any details about the incident so far.
The “National Guard” accused parties linked to the government of abducting an entire civilian family from Suwayda while the family was heading to Damascus to obtain passports. The family included an infant, a 12-year-old child, their parents, and the taxi driver.
It described the family’s abduction as “a blatant violation of human rights, and an unjust equivalence between a detainee carrying incriminating evidence and a peaceful family abducted because of religious affiliation.”
The group said it was following up on the case of the abducted family with mediators and guarantor countries, in addition to placing the file before the international community, according to the National Guard.
Family Abducted on Damascus to Suwayda Road
Suwayda governorate witnessed the abduction of members of a family and the taxi driver transporting them while they were heading to Damascus to obtain passports on 25 May.
Enab Baladi’s correspondent in Suwayda reported that contact was lost with Raeed Kamal Zain al-Din, his wife, and their two children, Fajr, 12, and Matar, eight months old, as well as taxi driver Safwan al-Kudmani. They come from the town of Qanawat, north of Suwayda, and were traveling to Damascus to obtain papers related to passports.
A local source in Suwayda told Enab Baladi that armed men from one of the tribes stopped the car on the Damascus road on the pretext that a tanker driver from the Bedouin community had been abducted inside Suwayda.
Security Authorities Follow Up
Suwayda city security director Suleiman Abdul Baqi told Enab Baladi at the time that the family’s abduction took place on the Damascus to Suwayda road, in an area far from the Khirbet al-Shiyab checkpoint.
He said the Internal Security Forces in Suwayda governorate were following up “with great concern” on their security measures to uncover the fate of the family abducted from Suwayda from the first moments after receiving the report.
The security forces are working with the utmost care to secure the return of the family members and arrest the perpetrators, he said.
He added that the policy of provocation practiced by “outlaw groups” in Suwayda, and the so-called “National Guard,” through the abduction of civilians working in fuel transport to the governorate, contributes to fueling strife and opens the door to retaliatory disputes and counterattacks.
It also deepens the national divide sought by the same groups linked to foreign agendas, according to Abdul Baqi.
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