Murders and attempted murders

Report: Assad Secretly Moved Thousands of Bodies in Cover-Up

Published OCT 15 2025

Story

Above: A portrait of former President Bashar al-Assad is defaced in Damascus, Syria on Dec. 17, 2024. Image credit: Scott Peterson/Getty Images

The Facts

According to a Reuters investigation published Wednesday, Syria's Assad government conducted a secret two-year operation called Operation Move Earth from 2019 to 2021, transferring thousands of bodies from the Qutayfah mass grave to a hidden desert site near Dhumair.
Daily Sabah
North Press Agency
The Jerusalem Post
Thirteen witnesses with reportedly direct knowledge described how six to eight trucks filled with dirt and human remains made near-nightly trips for four nights weekly, transporting bodies from Qutayfah to the remote Dhumair location.
Turkiye Today
The New Arab
The Jerusalem Post
The Qutayfah burial site began operations around 2012 and contained bodies of soldiers and prisoners who died in government prisons and military hospitals. Its existence was first alleged by activists in 2014.
Middle East Eye
www.timesofisrael.com
New York Post
The new Dhumair site contains at least 34 trenches stretching approximately two kilometers (1.2 miles), suggesting tens of thousands of people may potentially be buried there. This makes it among the most extensive graves of the Syrian civil war.
Mezha
Al-Monitor
Channel 4 News on Youtube
By the time Bashar al-Assad's government fell in December 2024, all 16 trenches at the original Qutayfah site had been completely emptied. Assad and key military officials reportedly fled Syria and sought refuge in Russia.
Daily Sabah
The New Arab
Daily Mail
More than 160,000 Syrians remain missing, according to rights groups. Mohammed Reda Jehlki, head of the government's National Commission for Missing People, has announced plans for a DNA database, while Mohamed al-Abdallah, head of the Syria Justice and Accountability Center, warned that body transfers complicate victim identification efforts.
Turkiye Today
North Press Agency
United Nations on Youtube

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

The Assad regime orchestrated a massive two-year cover-up operation, secretly moving thousands of bodies from exposed mass graves to hide evidence of systematic killings. Assad desperately tried to obliterate evidence of torture and whitewash his brutal legacy as he sought international rehabilitation. However, the scale of his crimes — over 160,000 disappeared Syrians — cannot be erased.

Reuters

Vanguard Intel Group on X

Narrative B

These sensational mass grave claims lack credible physical evidence and rely solely on unverified witness testimony and dramatic presentations. Media outlets have already been caught fabricating stories about Syria, making these extraordinary allegations, which ignore heavy surveillance over Syria and conveniently attribute all war deaths to Assad while excusing rebel atrocities