Sanctions
Supported by independent sources
The European Union’s listing of 28 May 2025 states: “In March 2025, the Hamza Division, under Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr’s command, took part in the violence in the coastal region of Syria, targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community, including by committing torture and arbitrary killings of civilians.” It also cites torture in the division’s detention centres, extortion and forced displacement in Afrin and Aleppo. 1
The U.S. Treasury designated him and the Hamza Division in August 2023, and the United Kingdom added him to its sanctions list in December 2025. 2 3
The March 2025 coastal violence
Supported by independent sources
The UN Commission of Inquiry found reasonable grounds to believe that individual members of the 76th Division, formerly the Hamza Division, committed violations during the March 2025 coastal violence. 4 Reuters reported finding the Hamza Division, together with the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, at at least eight sites where nearly 700 people were killed; representatives of the division declined to comment on the violence in one of the towns. 5
Career since
Reuters reported that he was promoted to brigadier general after the killings, according to his Twitter account. 5 In August 2026 Alhurra, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that he resigned after declining a staff post and was replaced at the head of the division. 6
