Assad’s killing fields: Mass graves containing ‘bags of human bones’ are discovered near Damascus as Syrians dig up the horrors of the dictatorial regime

Mass graves with bags full of human bones have been discovered near Damascus, as the Syrian people discover the horrors of the Assad regime.

An alleged mass grave in the Baghdad Bridge area near the Syrian capital contains deep trenches filled with human remains believed to belong to massacred civilians.

According to one Anadolu Ajansi ReportThere is evidence that victims, including those who died from torture and the harrowing conditions in prisons such as the infamous Sednaya, were buried there.

Horror footage of the discovery shows piles of bodies on top of each other, with bags marked with prison codes and believed to be the names of the deceased.

Eight bags of human remains were recovered from one deep ditch, providing a chilling insight into the severity of Assad’s atrocities.

Kurdistan24 claimed that thousands of bodies were found in the Baghdad Bridge after a wave of mass graves were uncovered across Syria during a search and recovery effort following the regime’s collapse.

A local witness told the Kurdish broadcaster: ‘These are human remains of someone murdered by the Syrian regime. These graves contain nearly five to six thousand bodies.”

The witness pointed to a bag labeled “Raad Mahmoud, Prisoner No. 125” and explained: “This body, along with thousands of others, was brought here by the Assad regime. They dug holes and buried them in mass graves.”

Human remains have been found in mass graves near the Syrian capital Damascus

Members of Syria's Civil Defense Group, the White Helmets, work at the site where several bodies and human bones were discovered

Members of Syria’s Civil Defense Group, the White Helmets, work at the site where several bodies and human bones were discovered

The deep trenches are filled with human remains, believed to belong to massacred civilians

The deep trenches are filled with human remains, believed to belong to massacred civilians

On December 16, 2024, a mass grave was found on the road to Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital Damascus

On December 16, 2024, a mass grave was found on the road to Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital Damascus

There is evidence that victims, including those who died from torture and harrowing conditions in prisons such as the infamous Sednaya, were buried there.

There is evidence that victims, including those who died from torture and harrowing conditions in prisons such as the infamous Sednaya, were buried there.

They then gave a chilling account of the systematic nature of the mass burials, claiming: “I witnessed the process with my own eyes as the Syrian regime brought bodies here daily by vehicle, dug holes and later buried them.”

The discovery comes after another mass grave was uncovered in the Tadamon district of Damascus on Sunday.

Until recently, brutal killings took place in Tadamon, with residents claiming they had regularly seen Syrian security forces bringing men into the area, heard gunshots and then smelled burning flesh.

Reporters on the ground in the Syrian district encountered piles of bones covered in trash, scorched plastic and dirty clothes, and saw children playing with what appeared to be ribs and thigh bones.

Mohammad al-Darra, an elderly man from Tadamon, said That year after year, he watched as cars driven by Syrian forces took “tied people” to a small alley parallel to where the 2013 Tadamon massacre is said to have taken place.

At night you heard it. Every shot fired hit a man,” he said, and referring to the dirty street and gutted buildings next to it, he added, “and this was the graveyard for all the bodies.”

Khaled Houriya, who runs a mechanic shop in the area, said he also often heard gunshots and smelled burning flesh after returning to the neighborhood in 2019.

‘This was known as execution street. Anyone who came to this street was considered lost,” he said, adding that security forces often asked his neighbors to help them dig mass graves.

Bags were found containing prison codes and probably the names of the deceased

Bags were found containing prison codes and probably the names of the deceased

Eight bags of human remains were recovered from one deep ditch, providing a chilling insight into the severity of Assad's atrocities.

Eight bags filled with human remains were recovered from one deep ditch, providing a chilling insight into the severity of Assad’s atrocities.

The remains of bodies believed to be those of civilians killed by Bashar al-Assad's regime are being exhumed from a mass grave near the Baghdad Bridge outside the Syrian capital.

The remains of bodies believed to be those of civilians killed by Bashar al-Assad’s regime are being exhumed from a mass grave near the Baghdad Bridge outside the Syrian capital.

Teams work on the uncovered mass grave believed to contain the remains of civilians killed by the ousted Assad regime

Teams work on the uncovered mass grave believed to contain the remains of civilians killed by the ousted Assad regime

An aerial view of the mass grave as teams work to exhume the bodies of civilians

An aerial view of the mass grave as teams work to exhume the bodies of civilians

Kurdistan24 claimed that thousands of bodies had been found in the Baghdad Bridge

Kurdistan24 claimed that thousands of bodies had been found in the Baghdad Bridge

‘Those things will not leave our memory. Bodies everywhere on the floor – it became normal for people,” Houriya said.

The grave is linked to a 2013 massacre captured in a video released in 2022.

Chilling footage showed men in military gear leading blindfolded individuals into a large pit, shooting them and pushing their bodies into the grave.

The US State Department said in a statement about the video in April 2022 that the massacre “reportedly killed hundreds of Syrian civilians.”

The suspected location of the grave was identified by Human Rights Watch researchers by matching satellite images with the scene in the video.

Although a full investigation of the site has yet to take place, the group has already found many traces of massacres.

“We found human remains, bones, part of a skull, fingers and ribs scattered throughout the area around the mass grave, which shows that a lot more really happened here than we already knew,” said Hiba Zayadin, Syria’s researcher at This is what interest group Human Rights Watch reports.

Residents of Tadamon said they had been afraid to speak out during Assad’s rule, when criticism of the authorities was severely suppressed.

‘We couldn’t say anything, otherwise they would burn your house or kill your son. It was ugly, ugly, ugly,” said one local.

A local Tadamon walks past the site of a mass grave from Bashar al-Assad's rule in Syria

A local Tadamon walks past the site of a mass grave from Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria

Children hold bones of various shapes found in the Tadamon district, littered with remains after what residents and rights groups described as years of killings there under the rule of Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

Children hold bones of various shapes found in the Tadamon district, littered with remains after what residents and rights groups described as years of killings there under the rule of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

Residents of Tadamon said they had been afraid to speak out during Assad's rule, when criticism of authorities was severely suppressed

Residents of Tadamon said they had been afraid to speak out during Assad’s rule, when criticism of authorities was severely suppressed

A Syrian child holds a human bone while playing in Tadamon district

A Syrian child holds a human bone while playing in Tadamon district

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed since 2011, when Assad’s crackdown on protests against him culminated in a full-scale war that attracted regional powers.

Both Assad and his father Hafez, who preceded him as president and died in 2000, have been accused by rights groups and governments of widespread extrajudicial killings, including mass executions in the country’s notorious prison system.

Assad repeatedly denied committing these violations and portrayed his opponents as terrorists.

But now, a week after the president’s ouster, residents and rights investigators hope the site can be cordoned off and those responsible for the killings held accountable.

“It is urgent that this site is secured, that the mass grave is excavated, that international relevant agencies are given unhindered access to this area in order to do this work carefully, cautiously and properly,” the spokesperson said.

Zayadin said there was a risk that the mass grave had already been emptied by the forces of Assad’s overthrown government.

“Families deserve to know what happened here,” she said.