Syrian internal security denies arresting Fadi Saqr, leader of the National Defense Militia.

Accounts on Facebook and Twitter circulated on May 27, 2025, claiming that the Syrian Internal Security apparatus had arrested Fadi Saqr, the former leader of the "National Defense" militia in the Tadamun neighborhood of Damascus.

This militia is one of the main supporters of the former regime forces, and Saqr is suspected of involvement in war crimes, notably the "Tadamun Massacre" in 2013 that took place in the same neighborhood, where investigations documented mass executions of civilians, along with intelligence officer Amjad Yousef.

A team from the "Verify" platform conducted an investigation to verify the claim and found it to be entirely fabricated.

The media office of the Internal Security Command in Damascus denied the validity of this claim in a statement, and no evidence supporting the arrest has been shown through official sources such as the Syrian Ministry of Interior or the SANA news agency.

It is worth noting that Fadi Saqr appeared in February 2025 in the Tadamun neighborhood, causing widespread outrage, as he is considered one of the main suspects in the Tadamun Massacre and has been subject to US sanctions since 2012 but moves freely within Syria.

His recent appearance sparked popular calls for accountability, amid criticism of attempts to whitewash his image under the guise of "civil peace."

The claim of the arrest of Fadi Saqr is baseless and has been classified as fake news according to the methodology of the "Verify" platform.