Authorities reportedly found the cache in a compound formerly belonging to Bashar al-Assad's forces. (AP: Hussein Malla)
In short:
Syria's new authorities have torched a large stockpile of drugs including one million Captagon pills reportedly found in a security compound formerly belonging to Bashar al-Assad's forces.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted the president earlier this month.
Fighting in Syria continues between Türkiye-backed factions and Kurdish rebels, with 21 Kurdish militants reported killed on Wednesday.
Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs including one million Captagon pills on Wednesday, two security officials said.
"The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter," a member said.
Authorities destroyed the stocks of alcohol, cannabis, Captagon and hashish in order to "protect Syrian society" and "cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses", he added.
The fall of the Syrian narco-state
Photo shows A man and a woman in formal wear walk through soldiers in gold hats featuring plumes
Forces reportedly poured fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol and around 50 bags of pink and yellow Captagon pills in a security compound formerly belonging to ousted president Bashar al-Assad's forces in the capital's Kafr Sousa district.
"We found a large quantity of Captagon, around one million pills," a member of the security forces said.
Captagon is an amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria's largest export during the country's more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.
Since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Assad earlier this month, Syria's new authorities have said massive quantities of Captagon have been found in former government sites around the country — including security branches.
A security force member confirmed on Wednesday that "this is not the first initiative of its kind — the security services, in a number of locations, have found other warehouses … and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner".
Fighting between Türkiye and Kurdish militants continues
Tayyip Erdogan said that Kurdish militants should either lay down their weapons or "be buried". (Reuters)
Fighting between Türkiye and Kurdish militants has continued in northern Syria and Iraq following the fall of Assad, with 21 Kurdish militants reported killed on Wednesday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish militants in Syria would either lay down their weapons or "be buried" as the conflict raged on.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Mr Erdogan told politicians from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
The operations on Wednesday come amid ongoing hostilities in north-eastern Syria between Türkiye-backed Syrian factions and the YPG.
Türkiye regards the YPG, the leading force within the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as an extension of the PKK — a group which began as an armed insurgency against Türkiye and which Türkiye designates as a terrorist organisation.
Türkiye routinely conducts cross-border air strikes and military operations targeting the PKK, which maintains bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq.
The conflict between Türkiye and the Kurdish rebels has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
Following the fall of Assad, Türkiye has repeatedly insisted that the YPG must disband.
Mr Erdogan also said on Wednesday that Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, expecting millions of Syrian migrants in Türkiye to begin returning home.
Reuters/AFP
