A harrowing revelation has emerged about a mass grave near Damascus, believed to contain the bodies of at least 100,000 victims of the former Bashar al-Assad regime. Mouaz Moustafa, head of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, disclosed this grim estimate, calling it a “conservative” figure, after visiting the site at al-Qutayfah, about 40 kilometers north of the Syrian capital.
Moustafa identified the site as one of five major mass graves uncovered over the years and noted that many others likely remain undiscovered. Among the victims, he claimed, were not only Syrians but also foreign nationals, including US and British citizens. The exact scale of the atrocities remains difficult to verify, but the grim accounts align with years of reports of widespread human rights abuses under Assad’s rule.
For decades, both Bashar al-Assad and his late father, Hafez al-Assad, have been accused of systematic mass executions, extrajudicial killings, and torture, particularly within Syria’s notorious prison system. According to Moustafa, bodies from military hospitals and detention centres were transported by government personnel to mass burial sites, where bulldozers were used to compress and conceal the corpses.
Moustafa emphasised the urgency of securing such grave sites to preserve critical evidence for future investigations into war crimes. With the collapse of Assad’s regime following a rapid rebel advance, there is growing hope that accountability and justice for the victims of Syria’s dark years may finally be pursued.
Hundreds of thousands estimated to have been killed since the 2011 uprising spiralled into a devastating civil war. The discovery of mass graves serves as a chilling reminder of the brutality endured by the Syrian people and underscores the need for truth, justice, and reconciliation.
