Underground vaults, sealed rooms discovered beneath villa of Bashar al-Assad's brother in Syria

By Merve Berker and Ethem Emre Ozcan

ANKARA / DAMASCUS (AA) – Underground tunnels filled with safes and sealed armored rooms have been discovered beneath the Damascus villa of Maher al-Assad, the brother of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Anadolu gained access to the villa of Maher al-Assad, commander of the once-elite 4th Armored Division of the now-collapsed regime military.

Located on a hilltop overlooking the capital near the Damascus-Beirut highway, the three-story villa features a heliport within its expansive courtyard, surrounded by high walls.

The ground floor includes a garage and a meeting room, while the lowest level houses an armored door leading to a tunnel network.

A 22-step staircase descends to an intermediate section with a rest area, followed by 130 more steps leading deeper into the tunnels.

These underground passages include electrical wiring, ventilation, bedrooms, a kitchen, and bathrooms, all reinforced with armored doors.

Several rooms within the main tunnel, which branches into left and right sections, contain emptied safes and luxury watch brand displays.

Two heavily armored rooms remain sealed, with their contents still unknown.

The tunnel network, spanning approximately 3 kilometers (1.86 miles), extends to the headquarters of the 4th Armored Division, once one of the most powerful military units of the Assad regime.

Also visible is an entrance for vehicles leading toward the Syria-Lebanon highway.

Fayez Mohammed, a security guard at the villa, told Anadolu that Maher al-Assad used the property as an office and retreat.

“There are vault rooms inside the tunnels beneath the villa,” he said.

“There are still two armored rooms that cannot be opened. The villa also contains documents and records belonging to the 4th Armored Division, including directives and correspondence from Maher al-Assad,” he added.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.

The next day, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the new Syrian administration, who was appointed president on Jan. 29, tasked Mohammed Al-Bashir with forming a government to oversee Syria’s transitional period.