| إدارة المخابرات الجوية Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Jawiyya | |
 Flag of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 8 December 2024 (de facto) 29 January 2025 (de jure)[1] |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Syria |
| Headquarters | Defense Ministry headquarters,Umayyad Square,Damascus,Syria |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | Ministry of Defense |
TheAir Force Intelligence Directorate (Arabic:إدارة المخابرات الجوية,romanized: Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Jawiyya) was an air force intelligence service ofBa'athist Syria from 1970 until 2024,[2] owing its importance toHafez al-Assad's role as theSyrian Air Force commander.[2]Despite its name, it was mainly involved with issues other than air force intelligence,[3] and took an active part in the suppression of theMuslim Brotherhood rebellion in the 1980s.[4] Agents of this service have frequently been stationed in Syrian embassies or branch offices of thenational airline.[5]
The service was headed for seventeen years by Maj. Gen.Muhammad al-Khuli, who was trusted byHafez al-Assad and had an office adjacent to the president's in the presidential palace.[4] Between 1987 and 2002, it was headed byIbrahim Huwayji.[6] The service also took part in the efforts to put down the2011 Syrian uprising against Bashar al-Assad's government. It is known to have been active in the town ofTalkalakh near theLebanese border.[7] From 2009 until July 2019, the agency was headed by Major GeneralJamil Hassan, who is fromAlawite sect.[8]
From 2019 to 2024, it was headed by Major GeneralGhassan Ismail.[9][10] Ismail previously served as a security official in the easternDeir ez-Zor Governorate. He was a part ofBashar al-Assad's inner circle.[11]
Military experts considered SAFI "the most powerful and notorious intelligence and security service in Syria", while theEuropean Center for Constitutional and Human Rights called it the "most powerful and most brutal" of Syria's state security agencies. SAFI had a broad mandate as Assad's "personal machinery of repression and extermination," serving as the president's personal action service and having a broad role in external clandestine and covert operations.[12]
Through its extensive network of prisons, SAFI imprisoned, tortured, and killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians.[12]
After thefall of the Assad regime, theU.S. Department of Justice charged former SAFI officersJamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud with "conspiracy to commit war crimes through the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment on detainees under their control."[12]
