Talal Dakkak fed prisoners to his pet lion, now he’s one of the first Assad enforcers to be publicly executed

Thousands of cheering young men gathered to witness the public execution of notorious Assad enforcer Talal Dakkak who sold prisoners’ organs and fed their body parts to his pet lion.

Talal Dakkak fed prisoners to his lions, now he faces execution. Picture: Supplied.

Days after the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, local rebel militia have begun executing senior members of the Syrian Army in the major cities of Hama, Homs and Damascus including, apparently, a notorious tyrant who used to feed the bodies of prisoners to his pet lion.

On Tuesday (AEDT) Syria’s new rebel leaders vowed to hunt down former senior officials “involved in torturing the Syrian people”, as they transfer power to an interim government after a half-century of brutal rule.

Now they appear to be making good on their promise: social media clips show thousands of mainly young men, brandishing weapons, honking horns and videoing the preparations for the execution of Talal Dakkak, a feared member of Assad’s 25th division, or Tiger Brigade, in Al-Assi Square, Hama on Tuesday.

His death, which has not yet been officially verified, is believed to be the first of several very public executions of captured Assad leaders.

🔴Sivillere işkence yapması ve onları yetiştirdiği aslanlara yedirmesiyle tanınan Esed rejimi üyesi Talal el Dakkak'ın Hama’da idamına yönelik hazırlıklar yapılıyor. pic.twitter.com/SDz6CqDgZU

— IR Impartial Reporter (@impartialreport) December 10, 2024

Dakkak, also known as Abu Sakhr, was infamous and much feared, after taking a lion cub from a zoo during the beginnings of the civil war and feeding the animal with the bodies of tortured political prisoners.

There were also reports Dakkak was involved in an illegal organ trade of body parts.

In 2018 the Middle East Institute reported that Dakkak was a sub commander of the Shawaheen Hawks, led by Suhail al-Hassan, a group known to be “very nasty and sectarian”. As an aside in the report, it said Dakkak had even filmed his lion eating a live horse.

Dakkak and his Tiger Forces compatriots were involved in the civil war from the very beginning. The elite pro-government force was under the control of Syria’s Air Intelligence Directorate and in 2011 when protests began to spill into Syria from the Arab Spring, the Tiger Force leadership killed more than 200 protesters in Treimseh in 2012.

The massacre resulted in protesters, rebel fighters and residents burned to death when a mosque collapsed during the shelling, while others died from helicopter and tank attacks in the town.

The people of the Tabbaneh in Tripoli, Lebanon, are holding the brigadier general in the army of the Syrian regime, "Talal Dakkak," who is known for killing civilians in Hama, Syria, and feeding them to the lion who is raising him in his home. pic.twitter.com/TRZ8IbXiH6

— Nasser (@Nasser_N1234) March 18, 2023

The plan, approved by Assad, was for all dissent to be crushed within two months.

The Syrian Observer reported in 2019 that Dakkak had been involved in years of criminal acts, killings, kidnapping, organ trade and feeding humans to his lions.

The well built and tall construction worker and sometimes cab driver led more than 1500 militia of the Air Force Intelligence.

According to the Syrian Observer, as well as torturing and killing protesters, he was known for smuggling food and fuel, was a drug dealer, and would kidnap children of local businessmen and then demand extortionate amounts for their release.

Another execution on Tuesday was reported by Syrian sources as being a relative of Assad, Iyad Diob, who was killed in Ashmar Square, Damascus.

Meanwhile it is believed a feared Assad enforcer known as Abu Ibrahim may have been executed in Baba Amr Square. According to locals Abu Ibrahim was a brutal tyrant, “the biggest Alawite thug” who took control of the Baba Amr area in 2012 setting up checkpoints and being directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of young men and women.

One social media post said: “I can’t believe what I’m seeing, by God, Baba Amr Square is really alive. Abu Ibrahim is the one who arrested my uncle, who we still don’t know anything about …. All the people of Baba Amr have a history with Abu Ibrahim, the pimp, the son of a pimp.”

More ughly killings appearing in Syria.

Here is the Turkish-backed militia called Maghawir al-Sham as it combs through an Alawite village in the Homs countryside and carries out liquidation operations. https://t.co/finsaaf1r8

— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) December 10, 2024

Elsewhere there were revenge killings of Syrian army recruits. Joshua Landis, the past president of Syria Studies Association said “More ugly killings appearing in Syria” as he retweeted a video clip saying “Here is the Turkish-backed militia called Maghawir al-Sham as it combs through an Alawite village in the Homs countryside and carries out liquidation operations”.

Other footage in the past day shows Syrian army officers being shot to death while running away. The shooter calls them “pigs “and said he was carrying out the killing as revenge for God.