30.05.2026 23:20
The Syrian National Commission for Missing Persons announced that the six children of Syrian chess champion and dentist Rania Al-Abbasi, who was detained by regime forces along with her six children and their caretaker in 2011 following the arrest of her husband on March 11, 2013, have died. In a statement from the commission, it was noted that the fate of Rania Al-Abbasi, her husband Abdurrahman Yassin, and the children’s caretaker remains a mystery.
A significant development has occurred in the 13-year mystery surrounding Syrian chess champion and dentist Rania Al-Abbasi and her family, who were detained by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria in 2013 and have not been heard from since.
CONFIRMED DATA OBTAINED ON THE DEATH OF 6 CHILDREN
In a case seen as one of the most symbolic missing person files in the Assad regime's prisons, sad news has come regarding the children of Al-Abbasi, who was detained along with her 6 children and their caregiver by regime forces after her husband's arrest on March 11, 2013, and has not been heard from since.
Today, the first definitive statement was made by official authorities about the family, who had not been traced for years. In an official press release published by the Syrian National Commission for Missing Persons, it was announced that, as a result of in-depth investigations, confirmed data had been obtained indicating that the 6 children had died.
The statement included the following: 'Our Commission confirms that the results reached are based on a series of investigations, data, and cross-analyses that have been reviewed and evaluated in accordance with professional standards. Efforts to locate and identify the children's bodies are ongoing in coordination with the relevant authorities.'
FATE OF THE MOTHER, FATHER, AND CAREGIVER STILL UNKNOWN
Meanwhile, the statement noted that the fate of Rania Al-Abbasi, her husband Abdurrahman Yassin, and the children's caregiver still remains a mystery.
The unveiling of this atrocity, hidden in prisons for 13 years, has caused a major stir across Syria. According to Syrian sources, the children detained by the regime in 2013—Dima, Entisar, Najah, Alaa, Ahmed, and Layan—were between the ages of 2 and 14.
"MY SISTER'S CHILDREN WERE KILLED BY AMJAD YOUSEF"
For years, grieving uncle Hasan Al-Abbasi, who has been trying to make the voices of his sister and nephews heard worldwide via social media, confirmed the news of his nephews' death with a video posted on his social media account. Hasan Al-Abbasi claimed that the killer of his relatives was Amjad Yousef, an intelligence officer linked to the Assad regime who was the main perpetrator of the 'Tadamon Massacre' footage, where at least 41 Syrian civilians were buried alive in a mass grave.
Al-Abbasi stated: 'We have finally seen the children of my sister, whom we have been searching for for years, but unfortunately, they are martyrs. Because of my humanitarian aid activities for the oppressed at the beginning of the revolution, Amjad Yousef killed my sister's 6 innocent children with the direct intention of taking revenge on me.'