DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces said on Sunday that they killed an army commander who served under ousted ruler Bashar Assad, after he opened fire on them as they tried to arrest him.
In a statement, the forces accused Firas Abdul Karim Hammoud of having taken part in anti-government insurrections that killed security personnel.
Since Assad’s fall in December 2024, Syria’s new Islamist authorities have arrested dozens of security officials from his rule, and trials began in April.
The security forces said they “neutralized Firas Abdul Karim Hammoud... following an armed clash and a raid on his hideout in the town of Safita” in Tartus province in the coastal Alawite heartland.
Hammoud had previously “opened fire on security personnel during an attempt to arrest him,” they added.
