The finding contributes to the increasing number of mass graves unearthed in recent years, especially at former detention facilities
A mass grave was found on Tuesday inside a former State Security building in the southern Idlib countryside, Syrian state media SANA reported.
The find was said to have occurred during renovation work inside the building, which had been a State Security headquarters prior to the city leaving Assad government control in 2019. Workers found human remains buried inside the structure, prompting an immediate stop to the renovation process.
Reports indicate that security forces closed off the area and blocked access to the site while waiting for further steps. No official information was given about how many bodies were found or their identities.
Following a coalition led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a regional branch of Al-Qaeda, seizing Damascus and ousting former President Bashar Assad late last year, at least 66 mass graves were found in the country. Each might hold clues about the whereabouts of some of the over 170,000 people still missing.
In December of last year, a mass grave holding at least 100,000 human remains was discovered outside Damascus.