A young man died in Aleppo under torture while being detained by Syrian security forces, local media reported on Monday.
Abdul Rahman Jaajoul was being held at the Kallaseh police station in the New Aleppo area in the west of Aleppo city.
He was subjected to severe beatings by security forces, including in the genital area, which caused a heart attack and resulted in his death.
Jaajoul's relatives said in an audio recording obtained by The New Arab’s Arabic language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that he was killed despite his detention case being officially closed.
They said that he was detained after an officer from the deposed Assad regime’s army accused him of stealing his motorcycle and $1,000, which was hidden inside the vehicle.
The head of the Internal Security in Aleppo Province, Colonel Mohammed Abdul Ghani, said in a statement that an investigative committee had been formed to look into the death of Jaajoul.
"After a report about the death of a young man detained at Kallasah police station, the body was transferred to forensic medicine to accurately determine the cause of death.
"A specialised investigative committee was immediately formed to follow up on the incident and uncover its circumstances with full transparency," Abdul Ghani added in the statement.
He also said that legal action would be taken against any party found to be involved in the case, whether actively or through negligence.
The incident came less than two weeks after the death of Yousef Al-Labbad, a young man from the Qaboun area of Damascus, on July 31, under torture in the custody of Syrian internal security forces, only two days after he returned to Syria from Germany.
Sources close to the family said that Al-Labbad was arrested inside the Umayyad Mosque, and his body was later handed over to his family bearing clear signs of torture, sparking widespread outrage.
In addition, a video surfaced earlier this week showing Syrian security forces reportedly executing a medical volunteer at a hospital in the city of Suweida.
Clashes in Druze-majority Suweida province in southern Syria between government forces and Bedouin tribes on the one hand and Druze militias last month left over 1,000 people dead and displaced tens of thousands more.
Syrian rebels led by the now-dissolved Islamist militia Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Initial optimism that this would result in an orderly transition of power and eventual democratic elections has now been marred by fears of sectarian division and fighting, as well as human rights abuses.