The Council of the European Union has added three groups affiliated with the Syrian National Army (SNA) and two commanders to its sanctions list for their involvement in ethnic cleansing attacks in Syria’s western regions – known as the coastal region – including the provinces of Latakia and Tartus and the rural areas of Hama and Homs, between March 6–9.
In its decision dated May 28, 2025, the Council stated that the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade and its leader, Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim (Abu Amsha), the Hamza Division and its leader, Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr, and the Sultan Murad Division were responsible for serious human rights violations in the coastal region.
The organizations led by Abu Amsha and Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr are among the Turkish-backed armed groups and have participated in all military operations carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in Syria.
Executions, torture, forced displacement
The Council's decision outlines the following reasons for including the individuals and organizations on the sanctions list:
Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim (Abu Amsha)
Muhammad Hussein al-Jasim is the founder and leader of the Sultan Sulaiman Shah Brigade, a Syrian armed militia active in the Syrian civil war.
In March 2025, the Sultan Sulaiman Shah Brigade, under Muhammad Hussein al-Jasim’s command, took part in the violence in the coastal region of Syria, targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community, including by committing arbitrary killings of civilians.
Muhammad Hussein al-Jasim is therefore responsible for serious human rights abuses in Syria, including arbitrary killings.
Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr
Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is the leader of the Hamza Division, an armed militia created in 2016 and operating in Syria.
Throughout the Syrian civil war, the Hamza Division, under Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr’s command, has been responsible for numerous acts of torture in that group’s detention centers, for extortion and for forced displacement of civilians, especially in the regions of Afrin and Aleppo.
In March 2025, the Hamza Division, under Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr’s command, took part in the violence in the coastal region of Syria, targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community, including by committing torture and arbitrary killings of civilians.
Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is therefore responsible for serious human rights abuses in Syria, including torture and arbitrary killings of civilians.
The Council also added Abu Amsha’s mostly Turkmen militia group, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, and Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr’s Hamza Division to the sanctions list for the same reasons.
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As for the Sultan Murad Division, it participated in operations against Kurds and the Syrian Democratic Forces before the end of the Assad regime. During this period, it engaged in torture, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and the ill-treatment of detainees.
The Council noted that the organization had also taken part in military operations outside Syria, including in Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Niger. It added the division to the sanctions list on the grounds of its responsibility for serious human rights violations in the coastal region, including arbitrary executions.
The Turkey connection
Abu Amsha and Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr are known for having close political and economic ties in Turkey. Both rebel commanders are of Turkmen origin and have been photographed with Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and President Erdoğan’s main coalition partner. They also posed with the notorious mafia boss Alaattin Çakıcı, known for his far-right ties in politics. According to a US Department of the Treasury sanction document, Abu Amsha also owns Al-Safir Oto, a car dealership headquartered in Istanbul with multiple stores in the south of the country.
(VC/DT)
