DAMASCUS — The Syria National Commission for Missing Persons (NCMP) concluded in 2025 that Rania al-Abbasi’s six children, who disappeared in Damascus in March 2013, are deceased. The commission stated it reached this determination with a high degree of professional certainty based on reliable and corroborating evidence.
Rania al-Abbasi, her husband Abdul Rahman Yasin, and their six children—aged three to 15—vanished after government forces raided their home in Damascus during Syria’s civil war. The NCMP, established in May 2025 by the country’s new rulers to investigate disappearances, said its findings about the children’s deaths resulted from multiple verification and analysis procedures conducted with national authorities.
Hassan al-Abbasi, Rania’s brother, confirmed the deaths in a video posted on Facebook. He said the family viewed video recordings linked to the main suspect in a 2013 massacre in a Damascus district, including one showing him accusing children in a dark room of being “major financiers of terrorism.” Hassan al-Abbasi added, “They turned out to be our children. We finally saw them but they were martyred.”
The Syrian Ministry of Interior said its investigation uncovered evidence linking Amjad Youssef to the killing of Rania al-Abbasi’s children. Youssef, described as a notorious figure under Bashar al-Assad’s rule and the alleged perpetrator of the 2013 Tadamon massacre, was identified in 2022 footage showing members of Assad-era Military Intelligence Branch 227 killing at least 41 people and burning their bodies, with Youssef seen shooting blindfolded and bound detainees.
According to the Ministry of Interior, interrogations of detainees, combined with videos and information shared by the NCMP, strengthened the case against Youssef. He was arrested in April 2026. The NCMP noted that efforts to locate the children’s remains are still ongoing.
The fate of Rania al-Abbasi and her husband remains officially unknown after they were arrested on accusations tied to opposition to the Assad government. Rights groups and media reports suggest the couple may also be dead, though their bodies have never been found. The NCMP has estimated that more than 300,000 people went missing during decades of al-Assad family rule.