Assad regime detains thousands of Syrians in crackdown on recaptured areas

Thousands of Syrians have been arbitrarily arrested over the past year, according to rights groups, as Bashar al-Assad’s government looks to reassert control in areas of the country recaptured from rebels.

Following the defeat of opposition rebels in most parts of the country in early 2018, Syrian state security forces have turned their attention to stamping out any perceived threats to Assad’s rule.

More than 3,600 people have been detained since April 2018, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor. It said an unspecified number of women and children were among them.

While some were released after questioning, 2,400 of those are still being held in the country’s notorious prisons, where thousands are believed to have died due to ill-treatment or torture.

Read the full article and more in The Independent.