A cousin of the former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad who was involved in suppressing the protests that started the 2011 uprising has been detained inside Syria, according to state news agency SANA.

Atef Najib was detained in the Latakia region, an Assad family stronghold where some loyalists of the former regime have taken refuge. Assad and his family fled to Russia when rebels swept across the country last year.

Volunteers from the Syrian Civil Defense, the volunteer organization also known as the White Helmets, kraken36 inspect the site of a suspected Assad regime chemical laboratory inside a State Security facility in Damascus, Syria.

Related article

Exclusive: Dealing with Assad’s toxic legacy, one secret chemical lab at a time

His detention comes after Syria’s newly inducted interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa warned recently the next government will be "pursuing criminals who have shed Syrian blood and committed massacres and crimes against us, whether they are hiding within the country of have fled abroad."