Syria
Members of security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government pose along a rocky beach by the Mediterranean sea coast in Syria's western city of Latakia on March 9, 2025. Photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The UK on Friday imposed sanctions on several individuals and organizations accused of committing violence against Syrian civilians during the civil war and in sectarian violence along Syria’s coast earlier this year.
“Individuals and organisations linked to violence against civilians throughout Syria are today sanctioned by the UK as it continues to pursue those responsible for violence against the Syrian people,” the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.
The sanctions target individuals involved in March’s coastal violence as well as abuses committed during the Syrian civil war.
Sectarian fighting erupted in Syria’s Alawite-majority coastal areas in early March after Bashar al-Assad loyalists attacked forces aligned with the interim government, leaving about 1,700 people dead, most of them Alawite civilians, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). In a post on X on Thursday, Judge Jomaa al-Anzi said trials of those accused of committing violations against Alawites in March would continue.
The UK sanctioned four individuals and three organizations, as well as two businessmen accused of financially supporting the Assad regime.
“Accountability and justice for all Syrians is vital to ensure a successful and sustainable political settlement in Syria,” Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said, according to the statement.
Britain has eased broader sanctions on Syria in 2025 to support reconstruction and economic recovery, while maintaining targeted measures against individuals and groups accused of human rights abuses.
Those sanctioned include former regime military commanders Ghaith Dalla and Miqdad Fatiha; Mohammad Hussein al-Jassim, known as Abu Amsha, commander of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division; Sayf Boulad, commander of the Hamza Division; and Syrian-Russian businessmen Mudallal Khoury and Imad Khoury, accused of financing Assad-era activities.
Three Turkish-backed groups are sanctioned. The Sultan Murad Division, Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, and Hamza Division were subjected to asset freezes, the statement said.
Abu Amsha’s now-dissolved Sultan Suleiman Shah Division has been accused of abuses against Kurds in Afrin and elsewhere, including the 2019 killing of Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf. Despite this record, Abu Amsha has been appointed to lead a brigade within Syria’s new security apparatus.
In August 2023, the US Treasury sanctioned the Hamza and Sultan Suleiman Shah factions for “serious human rights abuses” in Afrin, followed by European Union sanctions. Both groups have been cited in investigations by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
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