On the evening of August 19, the Internal Security Branch in Latakia province found a mass grave containing nine bodies near the village of Bustan al-Basha (north of Jableh city, coastal Syria), inside farmland owned by former Assad regime Air Force Brigadier General Hassan Youssef Younes.

The discovery sparked controversy over the victims’ identities, with some claiming they were killed by the former regime, while others said they were victims of pro-government armed factions during the coastal events in March.

Two medical sources directly involved in transporting and examining the bodies told Enab Baladi that the corpses were immediately transferred to Jableh National Hospital under the supervision of the Interior Ministry and forensic medicine, while the hospital administration’s role was limited to logistical support.

According to the sources, families were able to identify the bodies in a closed session attended by relatives of the victims, representatives of Public Security, and forensic doctors, before they were buried on August 21.

Families of the victims testified that the deceased were civilians killed during the coastal events in March. Some pointed out that the site of the mass grave was a position for the Sultan Murad Brigade (a Turkish-backed Syrian opposition faction in northern Aleppo) at that time. However, Enab Baladi could not independently verify this information.

A judicial source in Jableh told Enab Baladi that the Public Prosecutor’s Office currently holds all information regarding the victims’ identities and the circumstances of their deaths, citing the “sensitivity of the case.”

Meanwhile, the Latakia governorate’s media office referred the case to forensic medicine, denying confirmed information on which group controlled the farm during the coastal events.

On May 28, the European Union imposed sanctions on the Sultan Murad Brigade, led by Fahim Issa, targeting the military formation but not its commander, in addition to the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade led by Mohammed al-Jassem (Abu Amsha) and the al-Hamzat Brigade, led by Saif Abu Bakr.

The EU decision stated that these factions committed serious human rights violations, including arbitrary killings during the violence that swept the Syrian coast in March 2025.

The Syrian coastal region witnessed deadly clashes in March following mobilizations by groups loyal to the former Syrian government, leaving more than 1,400 people dead—mostly civilians, along with Public Security personnel. The violence included field executions of entire families, torture, and kidnappings.

This was not the first mass grave found in Latakia. In March, Internal Security forces had previously uncovered another grave near Qardaha (a town in Latakia countryside) containing bodies of Public Security and police officers killed during the clashes.

Mohammad Reda Jalkhi, head of the National Commission for the Missing in Syria, said the commission has so far documented more than 63 mass graves across the country, estimating the number of missing persons between 120,000 and 300,000, with the actual figures likely much higher due to difficulties in documentation.