Syrian security forces arrested a top former intelligence officer suspected of numerous killings, including the 1977 murder of Lebanese opposition leader Kamal Jumblatt, the state news agency reported on Thursday.

Forces seized Ibrahim Huweija, a former head of air force intelligence, one of the most trusted security agencies of the former ruling Assad family, a security source was quoted as saying by the SANA agency.

They made the arrest during clashes with supporters of the deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad in the coastal province of Latakia, described as the fiercest such fighting since his ouster in December.

“After thorough monitoring and investigation, our forces in the city of Jableh managed to arrest the criminal General Ibrahim Huweija, the former head of Air Force Intelligence in Syria,” SANA quoted the source as saying.

Huweija headed air force intelligence from 1987 to 2002, starting under Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez. Huweija is rarely seen in public and there is little information available about him.

“He is accused of hundreds of assassinations during the era of the criminal Hafez al-Assad, including overseeing the assassination of Kamal Bek Jumblatt,” the source was quoted as saying.

Jumblatt, a leader from the Druze religious community, founded the Lebanese Progressive Socialist Party and opposed Hafez al-Assad over his troops’ intervention in Lebanon during its civil war.

He was killed near a Syrian border post on March 16, 1977.

His son and successor Walid Jumblatt reposted on X the news of Huweija’s arrest with the comment: “Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).”

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