DAMASCUS: Syrian security forces have arrested five former air force officers accused of involvement in deadly airstrikes on populated areas during the country’s civil war under ousted President Bashar Assad. The officers, including pilots, field commanders and operations room personnel, were detained by Internal Security Forces during a series of operations in the coastal province of Tartous over their alleged involvement in “planning, managing and executing airstrikes against populated areas,” the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Friday. They were identified as Maj. Gen. Mohammad Fajr Ali, Brig. Gen. Abdullah Ali Ma’la, Col. Nidal Hussein Saleh, Col. Mohammad Ali Salim, and Lt. Col. Taleb Abdul Karim Hassan. The officers allegedly used military aircraft, airbases and field command centers as they carried out “intensive” raids that killed civilians, destroyed residential neighborhoods and infrastructure, and displaced residents, according to SANA. Since the fall of Assad, the Syrian Arab Republic’s new authorities have pursued former security officials accused of abuses during more than 13 years of civil war. Assad was ousted in December 2024 after opposition forces captured Damascus, ending more than five decades of rule by his family. The former government’s air force carried out extensive aerial bombardments during the war, including attacks on opposition-held cities and towns that international investigators and rights organizations said caused widespread civilian casualties. Earlier this month, Syrian authorities said they had arrested nine former pilots, including three generals, accused of taking part in lethal bombings of towns and villages under Assad’s rule. The latest arrests also come amid efforts outside Syria to prosecute former Assad-era officials accused of abuses. A US federal judge on Thursday sentenced Samir Ousman Alsheikh, the former head of Damascus Central Prison, also known as Adra Prison, to 60 years in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture and immigration-related fraud. Alsheikh, who ran the prison from about 2005 to 2008 and later served as governor of Deir Ezzor, was the highest-ranking Assad-era official to be tried in person outside Syria. In Britain, former Syrian Air Force Intelligence officer Salem Al-Salem appeared in court in March on charges including murder, torture and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the government’s crackdown on protests in 2011 and 2012.