For nearly two years, on four nights each week, convoys of trucks carried a reek of death across the desert highway – bodies loaded from a mass grave near Damascus to a hidden new site in the Dhumair desert, all under orders from the presidential palace and executed under a code name: Operation Move Earth.
The highway that cuts through Syria’s arid eastern desert carried more than sand and wind; it became the clandestine artery of a grim operation few outside the inner circle ever knew existed.
Each night, six to eight trucks, sometimes more, rumbled silently under the cover of darkness, carrying human remains from Qutayfah, a sprawling mass grave near Damascus, to a newly dug burial site in the Dhumair desert.
Drivers were forbidden to leave their cabs.
Mechanics worked in isolation, repairing trucks under the glare of floodlights while sworn to silence.
Bulldozer operators moved the remains under strict supervision, and anyone who spoke of the operation risked execution.
The operation, entirely verbal and cloaked in secrecy, was orchestrated by Col. Mazen Ismandar, known among insiders as Bashar Assad’s “master of cleansing.”
Between 2019 and 2021, Ismandar oversaw the excavation of Qutayfah’s trenches and the systematic reburial of its victims on a militarized installation over an hour away.
The order for the transfer came directly from the presidential palace, according to multiple former Republican Guard officers who spoke with Reuters.
Investigators have now pieced together the operation in unprecedented detail.
Over 500 satellite images spanning more than a decade, combined with drone photography and thousands of high-resolution ground photos, document the transformation of both Qutayfah and Dhumair.
Forensic geologists confirmed that soil at Dhumair bears traces consistent with that of Qutayfah, suggesting subsoil from the original grave was transported alongside human remains.
The Dhumair site now stretches across 34 trenches spanning two kilometers, making it one of the largest and most extensive burial sites uncovered from Syria’s civil war.
Witness accounts illuminate the human horror behind the satellite images.
Ahmed Ghazal, a mechanic, recalled the first time a decaying hand fell onto an apprentice while repairing one of the convoy trucks.
Drivers described the overpowering stench, the crawling maggots, and the psychological toll of their work.
“To talk means death,” Ghazal said, reflecting the atmosphere of fear and complicity that cloaked the operation.
The genesis of Operation Move Earth dates to late 2018, when Assad was on the verge of consolidating victory in Syria’s civil war.
Seeking to erase evidence of human rights violations before attempting to regain international legitimacy, Assad ordered a full removal of Qutayfah’s bodies.
Russian intelligence reportedly advised him to conceal mass arrests, chemical attacks, and the existence of mass graves.
“We want guests to come and find the country clean,” one military intelligence officer recalled the deposed dictator saying.
Qutayfah had been a focal point for death since the civil war erupted.
Beginning in 2012, bodies arrived from hospitals, detention centers, and battlefields.
Initially, local refrigerated trucks were repurposed to transport the dead.
Shallow trenches were dug, generating odors so strong that local residents and animals were drawn to the site.
By 2018, satellite imagery and witness accounts estimate the grave contained 60,000 to 80,000 bodies.
The transfer to Dhumair, a remote desert site surrounded by mountains and military installations, began in February 2019.
Operation Move Earth was meticulously structured: no one carried phones, drivers remained in cabs, and each convoy traveled under the watchful eye of Ismandar and the Republican Guard.
Witnesses recall the gruesome cargo: some corpses had decomposed entirely, others were recently deceased, including young adults and teenagers.
Bulldozers repeatedly tamped down the earth, and trucks were loaded under the cover of darkness to avoid detection.
Satellite imagery and drone photography reveal that Dhumair’s trenches expanded systematically over time, covering a two-kilometer stretch.
Forensic soil experts, including Lorna Dawson and Benjamin Rocke, identified soil disturbances consistent with the addition of Qutayfah’s subsoil, corroborating the eyewitness accounts.
The operation concluded in April 2021, when the last trench was filled and Qutayfah’s remains were fully removed.
The original site was leveled, leaving virtually no trace of the burials.
Families of the missing continue to suffer.
The new National Commission for Missing Persons acknowledged that the relocation complicates identification efforts, creating a technically challenging and costly process.
Tens of thousands of Syrians remain unaccounted for, with government estimates placing the total missing under Assad’s rule at up to 300,000.
DNA testing and centralized databases may eventually provide closure, but Syria currently lacks sufficient forensic resources to undertake such an operation on this scale.
Testimonies from those involved reveal the staggering organization required.
Trucks ran nightly, repairs were conducted in secrecy, and logbooks maintained by Ismandar documented the movement of bodies and the originating security branches.
Officers corroborated Ghazal’s descriptions of the operation and the scale of the burials.
At Dhumair, human bones remain visible on the surface, a chilling reminder of the tens of thousands who vanished.
