Syrian rebel leader vows to pursue torturers

The Islamist rebel commander responsible for the downfall of the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has said that those responsible for torture and killing in the notorious prisons system will not evade justice after the extent of the regime's crimes against its own people in detention centres was revealed.

- Bethan McKernan

Pardons or amnesties would not be granted for regime officials, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, said in a statement published on the state TV Telegram channel. "We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice," he said.

Assad's commanders have been hunted down across the country in the two weeks since Jolani's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) launched a surprise offensive on the northern city of Aleppo that led to the swift collapse of one of the most oppressive police states in the world and ended almost 14 years of civil war. Many senior officials have fled abroad and some are believed to be in hiding on the coast.

Several unverified videos on social media appear show extrajudicial killings of Syrian forces in uniform in different places around the country.

At the Masnaa border crossing to Lebanon last night, thousands of Syrians were trying to flee despite assurances from HTS that civil rights and sectarian differences would be respected. Rebel fighters appeared to be searching for regime army members and security services trying to get to Lebanon with their families.