A Reuters investigation has uncovered a clandestine Syrian government operation under former President Bashar al-Assad, in which thousands of bodies from a known mass grave near Damascus were secretly excavated and reburied in a remote desert site between 2019 and 2021.
Codenamed “Operation Move Earth,” the campaign was directed by a Syrian colonel nicknamed the “master of cleansing,” under orders that originated from Assad’s presidential palace. The scheme aimed to hide evidence of mass killings as Assad sought international legitimacy near the end of Syria’s brutal civil war.
What Reuters Found:
The original site, Qutayfah, held victims of torture, executions, and war casualties since 2012.
Using satellite imagery, drone mapping, and forensic soil analysis, Reuters confirmed that thousands of bodies were transferred to a second site near Dhumair, over an hour away in the desert.
Eyewitnesses, including drivers, mechanics, and soldiers, described nightly convoys of trucks carrying human remains under strict orders of silence.
The Dhumair site now holds at least 34 trenches stretching 2 km, making it one of the largest known mass graves from the Syrian conflict.
Why It Matters:
The findings expose a systematic attempt by the Assad regime to erase evidence of crimes against humanity including torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings that left up to 300,000 Syrians missing since the Assad family came to power in 1970.
The revelation complicates ongoing efforts to identify the missing and reopen Syria’s relationship with the international community following Assad’s overthrow in 2024.
Syrian National Commission for Missing Persons: Confirmed the discovery and urged protection of the Dhumair site but warned that the disorderly reburials will make identification far harder.
Forensic Experts: Advised that soil from Qutayfah was likely mixed into Dhumair’s terrain, corroborating the transfer of remains.
White Helmets Organization: Plans to investigate the site after being tipped off by locals, citing the urgency of preserving evidence.
Assad’s Officials: Neither the colonel who ran the operation nor Assad’s aides have commented; both are believed to have fled Syria after his fall.
Russia: Allegedly advised Assad to conceal evidence of atrocities to facilitate his reintegration into global diplomacy, according to witnesses.
Why Now:
The uncovering of this operation more than a decade after Syria’s war began arrives as post-Assad authorities face immense pressure from families of the missing and human rights groups to begin credible exhumations and DNA identification.
Future Outlook:
Experts say proper excavation and DNA analysis of Syria’s mass graves could take decades and cost tens of millions of dollars. Without international cooperation and forensic expertise, much of the physical evidence of the Assad regime’s abuses may remain buried literally and politically.
The Dhumair discovery now stands as both proof of the regime’s concealment and a moral test for Syria’s new leadership: whether it confronts its past or continues to bury it beneath the sand.
With information from Reuters.
