They were among Bashar al-Assad’s top spymasters and generals, men who spent over a decade brutally suppressing a popular revolt in Syria. Now, a year after fleeing as the Assad regime collapsed, they are plotting to undermine the fledgling government that ousted them, and perhaps take back a piece of the country.

It is unclear if these former regime officials pose a serious threat to the new Syrian authorities, and they often are at odds with each other. But in interviews with participants and communications among them reviewed by The New York Times, there is little doubt they are determined to reassert influence in Syria, which remains on edge after 13 years of civil war.

A report by the newspaper reveals that some of these former regime leaders are attempting to build an armed insurgency from exile. One has supported a group behind a million-dollar lobbying campaign in Washington. Several hope to carve off Syria’s coast, home to the minority Alawite sect to which Mr. al-Assad and many of his top military and intelligence officials belong.

“We won’t begin until we are fully armed,” a former top commander of Syria’s once-feared Fourth Division, Ghiath Dalla, 54, told a subordinate in an April phone call from Lebanon that was intercepted without his knowledge.

The exchange was among dozens of transcribed phone conversations, text messages and group chats shared with The Times by a group of Syrian activists who say they hacked the phones of top Assad commanders before the regime’s collapse and have been monitoring them ever since.

Suhail Hassan and Kamal Hassan 
Two main figures involved in these efforts are Suhail Hassan, Mr. al-Assad’s former special forces commander, and Kamal Hassan, the dictator’s onetime military spy chief. Both men face international sanctions on accusations of war crimes.

Text exchanges and interviews with participants reveal they distributed funds, recruited fighters and, in the case of Suhail Hassan’s network, procured weapons. 

The two generals went into exile in Moscow with Mr. al-Assad in December 2024, yet both appear to be able to travel despite the international sanctions. Suhail Hassan has met with collaborators in Lebanon, Iraq and even Syria over the past year, according to text exchanges discussing his location.

There were also messages referring to Kamal Hassan visiting Lebanon. An aide, a recruit and an acquaintance also told The Times they had met the former general there. Like others interviewed about the former generals’ ambitions, they spoke on condition of anonymity to describe plans meant to remain secret.
Responding to questions via text message, Kamal Hassan denied he was involved in fomenting an armed insurgency.

Syrian officials play down the threat of insurgency
Syrian officials monitoring the would-be insurgents played down the threat of any insurgency in Syria. 

Two former Assad officials cooperating with the former generals told The Times they were well positioned to recruit from an Alawite community that is not only frightened, but also full of former soldiers.

Still, it is unclear how many would answer the call. Many Alawites remain deeply resentful of the regime after years of deadly civil war.

“The Tiger”
The earliest intercepted communications reviewed by The Times date to April 2025, when the activists who hacked the phones said they noticed a surge in activity by some targets. Among those most active was Suhail Hassan, the former special forces commander, whose admirers called him “the Tiger” for his perceived ferocity in battle. He was known among the Syrian opposition for scorched-earth tactics and stands accused of ordering airstrikes on civilians.
Long a favorite of the Russians, Hassan was one of the first officials Moscow sought to evacuate as the regime crumbled, four former officers said. But he apparently had little interest in sitting idle in Russia.

From April into the summer, the communications reviewed by The Times between Mr. Hassan and others show him plotting a comeback. Among them were handwritten charts sent from his phone in April describing the number of fighters and weaponry in different villages along Syria’s coast.

Mr. Hassan sent the charts to a person he addressed as the “commander in chief of our military and armed forces,” and said he had “verified” the identities of more than 168,000 fighters: 20,000 with access to machine guns, 331 with antiaircraft guns, 150 with anti-tank grenades and 35 snipers still in possession of their weapons.

He ended each message with the same sign-off: “Your servant, with the rank of holy warrior.”