Syria's interim government has vowed to disband and restructure all security agencies of the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad, accused of mass killings and abuses.
Al-Assad, who ruled Syria for more than two decades, fled the country earlier this month as Islamist-led rebels advanced on the capital, Damascus, during a lightning raid.
Since then, the interim government, installed by Syria's new rulers, has struggled to restore security and cracked down on Assad loyalists suspected of committing atrocities in their region.
Newly appointed intelligence chief Anas Khattab said all security agencies will be disbanded and rebuilt.
“The security system will be reconstituted after dissolving all security branches and restructuring them in a manner commensurate with our people, their sacrifices and their long history,” Syrian state news agency SANA quoted him as saying on Saturday night.
Khattab accused the al-Assad regime of exploiting the security apparatus to oppress Syrians.
“Our brave people, with all their different sects and categories, have suffered a lot of injustice and oppression from the old regime through its various security services,” he said.
Security forces of the transitional government have detained about 300 suspects in less than a week through ongoing operations in several parts of Syria, a monitoring group reported Sunday.
The arrests included former officers, security personnel and informants involved in the detention of many Syrians, as well as others suspected of committing abuses under the protection of the al-Assad regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights added.
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