Lebanon has handed over former Syrian Major General Adel Issa to authorities in Damascus, where he faces charges including premeditated murder and torture resulting in death, Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
Issa, a senior military officer under ousted President Bashar al-Assad, was detained in Lebanon under a warrant issued by the Lebanese public prosecutor following an extradition request from Syrian authorities.
A Syrian investigative judge had also issued an arrest warrant for Issa in absentia.
According to the Interior Ministry, he is accused of premeditated murder, intentionally killing more than two people, facilitating a felony and torture resulting in death.
Issa also faces accusations of acts aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife.
Issa previously commanded the Syrian army’s 17th Division and later served as ground forces commander in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor until 2016.
Deir ez-Zor was a major battleground during Syria’s civil war, with government forces, opposition groups and later the Islamic State competing for control of territory in the province.
The 17th Division was among the Syrian military formations operating in the region during the conflict.
Issa’s case has now been placed before a referral judge in Damascus, who will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to send him to the Damascus Criminal Court for trial.
The extradition comes as Syria’s post-Assad authorities step up efforts to prosecute former military, security and government officials accused of abuses during decades of Assad family rule and the civil war that began in 2011.
Assad’s government collapsed in December 2024 after opposition forces launched a rapid offensive and captured Damascus, ending more than five decades of rule by the Assad family. The former president subsequently fled to Russia.
Syrian authorities have since detained or sought the extradition of former regime figures as part of what they describe as a transitional justice process aimed at holding those responsible for killings, torture and other abuses accountable.
Issa’s transfer from Lebanon is among the cases involving former senior Syrian officials pursued across the border since Assad’s fall.
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