Syria’s Rebels Form Their Own Secret Police Force

Military Defectors Join Group Styled After Regime's Feared 'Mukhabarat'

Accused of a litany of abuses and “disappearances” of dissidents, Syria’s secret police, the “Mukhabarat,” has a feared reputation and one that has only gotten worse as the nation falls deeper into civil war.

But the Syrian civilians just trying to live their lives and survive this war now have more than one Mukhabarat to worry about, as the Syrian rebels have announced the creation of their own version, styled after the regime’s force, aimed at “protecting the revolution.”

The new secret police are recruited from much the same segment of the population as the existing one, with rebels saying that they are mostly defected spies and military officers.

While rebels are emphasizing their secret police intelligence gathering operations, the rebels’  own sketchy history of human rights violations sets this up as a group that is almost certain to persecute the religious minorities seen as opposed to the rebellion.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.