The dramatic collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime over the weekend has yielded some extraordinary scenes across the country, including first glimpses into part of the secretive world of the Syrian dictator — as well as his brother’s labyrinthine underground bunker. Here you can get up to speed on the situation, with our blow-by-blow account of the rebels’ lightning dash to the Syrian capital Damascus, which led to Assad running away from the country — his destination was Russia, which he safely arrived at, according to Moscow’s claims, but the exact whereabouts of Assad remain unconfirmed.
Among the most remarkable imagery that has appeared in the wake of Assad’s fall is that which shows a huge and modern underground bunker complex, said to be deep beneath the Damascus mansion of Maj. Gen. Maher al-Assad, the disposed dictator’s brother. Maher al-Assad was best known as the leader of the Syrian Army’s Fourth Armored Division, an elite formation tasked with protecting the government from internal and external threats. Clearly he failed in that role.
The bunker, with its complex network of tunnels buried deep underground, was discovered by rebels who filmed and photographed its interior. The facility is so deep that it includes its own funicular-like trolly system used for descending into it.
One video begins with an entry to the bunker via a door, presumably in the basement of the mansion, which leads to another reinforced blast door, followed by a staircase, under an arched ceiling. Another blast door then provides access to a much longer tunnel, descending deeper into the ground. Running alongside the stairs, this tunnel features the aforementioned steep, funicular-type railway for assisted and cargo movement access. Different underground chambers are linked with other levels via a spiral staircase.
The underground chambers include offices, sitting rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Many of the rooms have their contents strewn across the floor, but it’s not immediately clear if they were simply ransacked or if desperate efforts had been made by the owners to remove certain important items in advance of the rebels’ assault. One particular room is protected by a heavy vault door, which may have been still locked when discovered. Regardless, we don’t get to see inside this area.
A caption on one of the videos posted to social media read: “Massive tunnel complex beneath Maher Assad’s mansion, wide enough for trucks carrying captagon and gold to drive through.”
Captagon is another name for the drug fenetylline, which is illegal in most countries and is produced primarily for illicit use, especially in the Middle East. Reportedly, Syria is the largest producer of the drug, accounting for around 80% of the global supply. There have been multiple reports describing how revenues from captagon played a major role in propping up Assad’s regime and Maher al-Assad has been labeled as playing a major role in this narcotics trade.
As well as gold and drugs, it’s rumored that the same bunker network was also used to store weapons, which would have been used to defend it and the Assad family had they been at the facility when it was breached.
Overall, it’s noteworthy just how modern this complex appears. It is conceivable that Iran — which is well known to be very proficient at building underground complexes — might have assisted in its construction. Underground bunkers are used to protect key regime, command and control, nuclear, and weapons storage facilities in Iran, and similar types of bunkers have also appeared in Lebanon. With that in mind, the Maher al-Assad facility could give us an indication of what others look like in Iran.
Similar architecture has long been a hallmark of authoritarian leaders around the world, more often than not the product of an unhealthy relationship between power, paranoia, and colossal wealth.
Meanwhile, throughout Damascus — the seat of Assad’s power — there have been other scenes of rebels and civilians entering government and military compounds after the soldiers and police officers left them deserted.
Soon after the city fell to the rebels, looters broke into the headquarters of the Syrian Ministry of Defense, while videos from the capital show families having entered the presidential palace. Some of them are seen leaving with stacks of plates and other household items looted from the Assad family, which clearly left in a hurry, with furniture, luxury items, and other objects strewn across empty rooms.
Among the odd collection of items claimed to have been recovered from various Assad palaces include a photo of the Syrian dictator in swimwear, along with other candid family photos and his purported DVD collection.
Rather more valuable assets were found by rebels who broke into the presidential palace to find Assad’s collection of dozens of prestige cars. According to The Drive, the cars included an Audi R8, a Ferrari F50, a Lamborghini Diablo, a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, and an SL65 Black Series. There were also impressive numbers of offroad vehicles, among them Toyota FJ Cruisers and Land Cruisers, and a Land Rover Defender.
More unusual cars included a Lamborghini LM002 off-roader, a Mercedes 600 Grosser limousine, and a six-wheel Revcon Trailblazer, an RV built on a Ford F-350 chassis.
Back in 2018, Assad was filmed allegedly driving his personal Honda Accord into a combat zone on the eastern outskirts of Damascus. As TWZ pointed out at the time, this was clearly propaganda play by the Syrian government, but the use of the no-frills Accord now makes an even starker contrast with the high-end carpool found at the palace.
We are still at a very early stage of the post-Assad era and there is certainly much more to be discovered, not only from secretive locations belonging to the leader’s family and its acolytes but also the notorious prisons and other detention centers in which enemies of the regime were tortured and executed. Already, however, the picture is very much one of Assad — and presumably much of his family and close associates — having escaped the country with little to no effort being made to destroy anything left behind.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com