Brigadier General Saif Al-Din Boulad, known as "Abu Bakr," has been appointed as the new commander of the "76th Division," despite his faction, Al-Hamzat, being implicated in committing massacres against #Alawites, Shias and Christians in the Syrian coast over the past month.
Boulad, a former first lieutenant, was among the first military defectors from the Syrian regime in 2011. He later took command of Al-Hamza Division, a faction operating under the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and accused of severe human rights violations against civilians in northern and northwestern #Syria.
In mid-August 2023, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on both Boulad and his faction for their involvement in these crimes.
