A member of Assad’s infamous Tiger Forces who fed prisoners to his pet lion has reportedly been publicly executed by Syrian rebels.
Talal Dakkak is said to have been killed by local militia in the western city of Hama. His death has not been officially verified. The report, from media on the ground, comes hours after videos posted on social media claimed to show preparations being made for his execution.
It was claimed that Dakkak would be killed in front of a crowd – a treatment reserved to senior members of the Syrian Army by local rebels. The infamous soldier was feared by most due to his possession of a ferocious lion that he stole from a zoo in 2005 before training the animal and allowing it to become one of the most fatal weapons in his arsenal.
He was said to be pleased with his actions, boasting to his fellow soldiers that he fed the bodies of prisoners and abductees to his pet. Dakkak – nicknamed “Abu Sakhr” – led a near 1,500-man division of the Air Force Intelligence, detaining and torturing those who opposed him and the country.
According to an article by The Syrian Observer in 2019, Dakkak’s crimes included kidnapping, killing and organ trade. As a militia leader, he made a fortune by monopolising the smuggling of fuel from the city of Hama to Idlib and its countryside. He also smuggled unregistered vehicles and dealt in the trade of narcotics.
While in Hama, he would arrest civilians and arrest them in exchange for ransoms paid by their families. On Monday, Syria’s prime minister said most Cabinet ministers are still working from offices in Damascus after rebels entered the capital over the weekend and overthrew President Bashar Assad.
But there were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country, which is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. Damascus was quiet on Monday, with life slowly returning to normal while most shops and public institutions were closed.
In public squares, some people were still celebrating and civilian traffic resumed but there was no public transport, leaving some to hitchhike. Long lines formed in front of bakeries and other food stores. Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, who remained in his post after Assad and most of his top officials vanished over the weekend, has sought to project normalcy.
“We are working so that the transitional period is quick and smooth,” he told Sky News Arabia TV on Monday, saying the security situation had already improved from the day before, when joyful crowds gathered in public squares and celebratory gunfire rang out across the capital. He said the government is coordinating with the insurgents, and that he is ready to meet rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who made a triumphal appearance at a famed Damascus mosque on Sunday.