ByREUTERS
Updated:

Syria's security forces have detained Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad, state news agency SANA said on Saturday.

Wassim al-Assad was sanctioned by the United States in 2023 for leading a paramilitary force backing Assad's army and for trafficking drugs including the amphetamine-like drug captagon.

Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December and fled to Moscow. Most of his family members and inner circle either fled Syria or went underground.

Tracking down members of Assad regime

Syria’s new security forces have been pursuing members of the former administration - mainly those involved in the feared security branches accused of rights abuses.

A DRONE view shows Damascus city at night, after the ousting of Bashar Assad, in Syria.
A DRONE view shows Damascus city at night, after the ousting of Bashar Assad, in Syria. (credit: YOSRI ALJAMAL/REUTERS)

Rights groups have called for a fully-fledged transitional justice process to hold them to account.