The Syrian military carried out a series of changes to field command positions this week as part of a broader effort to restructure the armed forces. The moves coincided with a military alert on Tuesday that was confirmed by military sources and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, although the Defense Ministry did not officially announce it.
The Syrian government is working to integrate commanders from former armed factions into the country’s new military to reduce the influence of faction leaders who have yet to fully integrate into the new command structure.
Building a unified army that includes all components of Syrian society, while reorganizing its ranks and excluding personnel accused of human rights abuses, is widely seen as a prerequisite for winning the confidence of regional and international partners and securing support for the country’s new military establishment.
A Syrian military officer told MBN that the restructuring and redistribution of command positions had caused discontent among some officers, including Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Jassem, widely known as “Abu Amsha,” commander of the 62nd Division.
Al-Jassem is under U.S. and European sanctions over alleged human rights abuses.
The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, linked Tuesday’s military alert to al-Jassem’s dissatisfaction with the new appointments.
A source at Syria’s Defense Ministry confirmed to MBN that al-Jassem had been appointed deputy commander of the Central Region Corps, while insisting there had been no dispute between him and the ministry.
According to Syrian sources who spoke to MBN, however, the new position effectively reduces al-Jassem’s authority despite its appearance as a promotion. He moved from commanding a division to serving as deputy commander of a corps, with each corps in the Syrian military comprising four divisions.
The sources said the new role is “more ceremonial than operational,” meaning that al-Jassem has relinquished direct command of the 62nd Division. They said the move could diminish his influence on the ground as part of a broader redistribution of authority among former faction commanders within the military’s new organizational structure.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also linked the personnel changes to Tuesday’s military alert but said Damascus used the mobilization as a diversion to summon al-Jassem to Damascus under the pretext of discussing military plans.
Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the observatory, said Damascus dispatched forces to assume control of the 62nd Division while al-Jassem was in the capital. He added that other units were deployed to the Iraqi border “out of concern that Iran-backed militias might exploit any rebellion,” as he put it.
The troop movements were observed from the Iraqi side of the border on Tuesday. A source on the Iraqi border told MBN that Syrian military reinforcements had been deployed along the frontier.
A Controversial Figure
Al-Jassem was one of the most prominent commanders in Syria’s armed opposition, and his forces fought alongside Turkey during Ankara’s military operations against the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told MBN that the SDF leadership had made Abu Amsha’s removal a condition for moving forward with military integration into Syria’s new armed forces under the agreement signed between the SDF and Damascus.
The SDF signed an agreement in March 2025 to integrate into Syrian state institutions following a meeting in Damascus between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi.
One of the agreement’s main provisions calls for the integration of all civilian and military institutions in northeastern Syria into state institutions.
Throughout Syria’s civil war, Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Jassem led the Turkish-backed Suleiman Shah Brigade, which operated in the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin in northern Syria.
In August 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on al-Jassem for his alleged involvement in serious human rights abuses against residents of the Afrin region.
According to the Treasury Department, al-Jassem directed brigade members to forcibly displace Kurdish residents, seize their property and allocate abandoned homes to Syrians from outside the area, many of whom had ties to brigade fighters.
The Treasury also accused him of ordering the brigade to kidnap residents for ransom and confiscate their property as part of an organized effort to generate revenue that was believed to have produced tens of millions of dollars annually.
In May 2025, the European Union imposed sanctions on Mohammed al-Jassem and another commander, Saif Boulad, known as Abu Bakr, over their alleged role in deadly violence along Syria’s coast that killed hundreds of people, most of them members of the Alawite community.
Broader Military Shake-Up
The latest military reshuffle extended beyond al-Jassem. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the military leadership removed several former faction commanders from positions they had held within newly established formations. The changes also affected the leadership of the 76th, 80th and 84th divisions.
Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Hamdi, known as Abu Adi Saraya, was appointed commander of the 76th Division, replacing Saif Boulad Abu Bakr, who resigned after declining an administrative position at corps headquarters.
For Damascus, the reshuffle is as much a test as a show of control — whether commanders like al-Jassem can be absorbed without triggering more unrest.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
