DAMASCUS — Syria’s Interior Ministry released a video confession early Sunday by Amjad Youssef, in which he admitted executing detainees and burning their bodies to conceal the killings during the 2013 Tadamon massacre in Damascus.The video was posted on X under the title “Tadamon butcher,” two days after authorities announced his arrest in a security operation in the countryside of Hama.Youssef, a former first assistant in Military Intelligence Branch 227, said he was the officer shown in leaked execution footage that exposed the massacre.“The person who appeared in the video circulating on social media is me,” he said in the recorded statement.According to the confession, Youssef and Najeeb Al-Halabi brought around 40 detainees accused of terrorism or financially supporting armed groups.He said the victims were taken to a pit dug by a bulldozer, where they were shot one by one before their bodies were thrown inside.“We placed tires under them, then more tires on top and set them on fire,” he said, claiming the purpose was to prevent the smell from spreading.Youssef also said he did not receive direct orders from a superior officer and did not personally select the victims, claiming names were provided based on reports accusing them of aiding armed groups.Syrian authorities announced Youssef’s arrest on Friday, describing him as the main perpetrator behind the mass killings in the Tadamon district of Damascus.The case gained international attention after leaked footage emerged in 2022 showing detainees being executed and bodies burned.The massacre took place on April 16, 2013, near the Othman Mosque in Tadamon, where at least 41 people were killed and thrown into a pit in one of the most documented atrocities of the Syrian war.Since the political transition, Syria’s current administration has announced several arrests of people accused of abuses against civilians during the 2011–2024 conflict.In December 2024, former President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, ending decades of Baath Party rule. A transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January 2025.
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