The news of the arrest of Amjad Youssef, the first accused of committing the Tadamon neighborhood massacre in Syria in 2013, received great international media attention, as major international newspapers devoted space to highlighting the arrest process and the details of the massacres in which he is accused of involvement.
The British newspaper The Guardian – which sparked the case in 2022 by publishing clips of the massacre that shook the world – spoke in a lengthy report about the arrest of Amjad Youssef, stressing that the massacre has become a symbol of Bashar al-Assad’s regime’s violations against civilians.
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She said that at least 288 civilians, including children, died in horrific mass executions carried out in 2013, explaining that the crimes were documented through video clips filmed by the perpetrators themselves, which showed security personnel and militias loyal to the regime taking civilians blindfolded into a pit, then shooting them.
This is how the video leaked
This video fell into the hands of a member of Bashar al-Assad’s regime forces after he was asked to repair a laptop computer belonging to Branch 227 of the Syrian Intelligence, of which Amjad Youssef was deputy head.
This element conveyed the video to the Syrian activist Ansar Shahoud and Professor Ugur Umit Ungur, who work at the Holocaust and Genocide Center at the University of Amsterdam, who worked on analyzing it and identifying the perpetrators.
The newspaper adds that after a long investigation, Amjad Youssef was identified as the field commander of the massacre, and he was known as the “Shadow Man” because of his frequent appearance in the clips. Shahoud succeeded in communicating with him via the Internet under the guise of a pro-regime identity, and recorded secret interviews with him that helped document his involvement.
The Guardian reported that the publication of this evidence led to the imposition of international sanctions on Youssef by the United States and the European Union, and France also opened an investigation into war crimes.
The newspaper also highlighted the popular celebrations after the announcement of the arrest of what became known as the “thug of the Tadamon neighborhood,” as residents expressed their feeling of relief, despite the continued pain due to the memories of the victims.
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However, the Guardian says that it is likely that the real number of victims of the Tadamon neighborhood may exceed a thousand people, with the presence of mass graves in the area.
The arrest of Amjad Youssef represents an important symbolic step for the new Syrian government led by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, which has pledged to hold accountable those responsible for previous crimes.
However, the path of justice is still complicated – the Guardian explains – as some figures associated with the former regime have concluded settlements with the government in exchange for information or concessions, which raises fears of impunity for some of those involved, amid popular demands for trials to be transparent and fair, which is what Damascus has pledged to do.
The serial killer of Al-Tadamon neighborhood
The American Washington Post, for its part, reported the arrest of the “thug of the Tadamon neighborhood,” and said that the new regime in Damascus has succeeded, since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, in arresting dozens of symbols of the former regime who were accused of committing atrocities during the Syrian war.
She added that Amjad Youssef is one of the Syrian security personnel accused of committing the Tadamon neighborhood massacre.
It stated that the US special envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, posted on the
It also quoted Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, as telling reporters at the United Nations headquarters in New York that the arrest represents a major achievement, and pledged: “We will not rest until we reach the senior officials in the chain of command.”
No impunity
He called on the international community not to shelter perpetrators of crimes under the Assad regime. Olabi said: “Our message is very clear: you can escape, but you will never escape justice.”
The Washington Post recalled that the video clip exposing the massacre in the Tadamon neighborhood is 6 minutes and 43 seconds long, and shows members of the famous Branch 227 of Syrian Military Intelligence with a row of about 40 civilian prisoners in an abandoned building in the Tadamon neighborhood, where the detainees were blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs.
The gunmen would stand on the edge of a pit filled with old tires, then push or kick the detainees into it, and shoot them.
In the video – the American newspaper continues – intelligence agents tell some prisoners that they will pass through a corridor of snipers and that they must run, so they comply and stumble over the bodies of those who preceded them. Bodies piled up in the hole, some of them were still moving, while the gunmen shot everyone, alive and dead.
They then quickly set fire to the bodies later, to erase evidence of the massacre, explains the Washington Post.
Achieving justice
The British newspaper The Times, in turn, reported on the news of the arrest, and said that the arrest of Amjad Youssef is an important step towards achieving justice in Syria.
She described what happened in the Tadamon neighborhood as “one of the worst massacres that occurred during the long war that the country witnessed.”
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It was reported that former intelligence officer Amjad Youssef worked in one of the most brutal military units in Syria, and he appeared after his arrest as he was being transported in a police car from his hideout in a rural area near the city of Hama.
She continued that his face appeared to be stained with a little blood, but he was not significantly injured and was clearly recognizable. Then, he appeared wearing a striped prison uniform.
She said that what draws attention in the video of the massacre is that the gunmen led by Amjad Yousef seemed “indifferent to what they were doing, as the victims, who were blindfolded and bound, were asked one by one to run, and some of them seemed to believe that they were being allowed to escape captivity.”
Then they fell into a pit full of corpses, and were shot after they fell.
Subsequent investigations estimated the total number of deaths in that massacre at 288 people, and at the end of the video, the soldiers pour gasoline into the hole, set it on fire, and burn the bodies.
She added that three other men said to have appeared in the video were arrested in Syria in early 2025, and another in Germany.
What draws attention in the video of the massacre is that the gunmen, led by Amjad Yousef, seemed “indifferent to what they were doing, as the victims, who were blindfolded and bound, were asked one by one to run, and some of them seemed to believe that they were being allowed to escape from captivity.”
Spain and Italy
The Spanish newspaper Democracy – the daily specialized in parliamentary news – also devoted a space to the arrest of Amjad Youssef, and quoted the Syrian Interior Ministry as saying that he was arrested following a “successful security operation” that lasted several days of “monitoring and follow-up” before his arrest in Hama Governorate.
She continued that Amjad Youssef belonged to a unit affiliated with the intelligence of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, highlighting that the authorities hold him responsible for the execution of at least 41 civilians.
The “New Agency” in Italy – a daily news agency founded in 2010 – focused on the news of Amjad Youssef’s arrest, and said that he was accused of participating with other soldiers from the armed forces of the former regime led by Assad in killing hundreds of civilians and throwing them in a mass grave.
The Guardian newspaper was the one that exposed the massacre in April 2022 by publishing two video clips leaked to it.
She recalled that last year, the internal security forces of the current Syrian government arrested several people accused of involvement in the Tadamon massacre.
As for the Italian newspaper El Post – which has been published electronically since 2010 – it explained that Amjad Youssef is a prime suspect in committing one of the most horrific massacres in which the Assad regime was involved against civilians in Syria.
It recalled that the Guardian newspaper was the one that exposed the massacre in April 2022 by publishing two video clips leaked to it.
He said that Ansar Shahhoud succeeded in communicating with Amjad Youssef while she was under the identity of a supporter of the Assad regime, by creating a fake account on Facebook. She was able to gain his trust, until she made him confess to committing the massacre.
