Syria’s Mezzeh Airport redevelopment raises mass grave concerns – Reuters
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – The Syrian transitional government plans to convert the former Mezzeh Military Airport in Damascus into a civilian airport are raising concerns among rights groups over suspicions that the site contains mass graves, Reuters on Saturday reported.
According to Reuters, residents say redevelopment work could disturb suspected mass-grave sites and overlook claims to land ownership.
Last week, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported that the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority was preparing to reclassify Mezzeh Airport from a military facility into a limited civilian airport specializing in private and executive aviation, complementing Damascus International Airport.
The report said debris removal and infrastructure upgrades had already begun.
According to Reuters, the project will test how Syria’s new authorities balance efforts to attract investment and redevelop state assets with two unresolved issues inherited from the former government, the fate of tens of thousands of missing Syrians and land rights involving properties that were confiscated and expropriated over decades.
Under the al-Assad regime, Mezzeh Airport housed key branches of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, along with numerous detention facilities where suspected opponents were subjected to torture, execution and enforced disappearance, Reuters reported. Parts of the airbase were also used for presidential and official flights.
In 2025, an investigation by the Syrian Justice and Accountability Centre identified two sites suspected of being mass graves linked to people who died while detained at Mezzeh Airport. The center said more than 1,150 detainees died there, some through execution and others as a result of torture or mistreatment.
The center told Reuters that Syria’s National Commission for the Missing had informed it at the time that there were no plans for construction or redevelopment work at Mezzeh Airport.