Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced on Monday evening the arrest of Major General Nayef Saleh Durgham, one of the most prominent security officials under the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The arrest came after a security operation which was described as "precise" in the country’s northwest.
In a statement, the ministry quoted Brigadier General Abdul Aziz al-Ahad, commander of internal security in Latakia, as saying that the city’s internal security directorate and the counter terrorism branch were able to arrest Durgham following "close monitoring and continued surveillance".
Durgham, who is from the village of al-Shamiya in the northern Latakia countryside, has been accused of committing serious violations against civilians during the former regime, The New Arab’s Arabic language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
The ministry statement further said that Durgham is "considered one of the figures who held prominent leadership positions in state institutions at the time," and that he "served as the military prosecutor general".
The interior ministry confirmed that he was "referred to the authorities to undergo investigations in preparation for him standing before the judiciary and before necessary legal measures are taken against him".
The latest development comes just days after another statement from the ministry confirmed its security units carried out a series of precise operations in Latakia, resulting in the "dismantling and arrest of terrorist and criminal cells linked to external coordination".
According to local media reports, the ministry indicated that investigations had shown the "continued attempts of some parties linked to the remnants of the former regime to destabilise the province’s security and stability" by "carrying out terrorist acts targeting vital and government sites, committing murders and systematic kidnappings…".
Durgham’s arrest comes as part of a broader wave of security operations carried out by authorities in Syria following the fall of the Assad regime in December of last year. Such campaigns target remnants of the former regime spread across several provinces, particularly in the Syrian coast, Homs, Damascus, and Hama.
Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Interior and security agencies have intensified their pursuit and arrest operations against military and security figures who held senior positions in the former regime, on charges related to committing "serious violations against civilians" or being "involved in acts of sabotage affecting state security".
The campaigns have also targeted officers from the Republican Guard and Air Intelligence, as well as "economic figures accused of financing armed groups operating outside the framework of the state".