Exclusive: Leaked Syrian Files Confirm US Journalist Austin Tice Was Held by Assad Regime
WafricNews - June 2, 2025
Newly uncovered intelligence documents have revealed that missing American journalist Austin Tice was secretly detained by forces loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite years of official denials by the regime.
The files, verified by the BBC and shared with WafricNews, offer the clearest evidence yet that Tice was imprisoned by Syrian intelligence in Damascus shortly after his disappearance in 2012. These findings were corroborated by former Syrian officials who confirmed Tice’s detention in a regime-run facility.
Tice, a former US Marine and freelance reporter, vanished in August 2012 while covering the Syrian civil war. He was last seen near Darayya, a suburb of Damascus. Weeks later, a video surfaced online showing him blindfolded and bound, prompting speculation he had been taken by a jihadist group — a narrative now cast into serious doubt.
According to the confidential files, Tice was initially held in Tahouneh, a notorious intelligence prison in Damascus, under the control of the National Defence Forces (NDF) — a paramilitary unit loyal to Assad. The documents include top-secret memos and communications across multiple branches of Syria's intelligence apparatus.
A former senior intelligence officer told WafricNews that Tice was considered a “valuable asset” and was treated better than local detainees. He reportedly suffered health complications in custody, including a viral infection that required medical attention.
There are also reports that Tice briefly escaped from his cell, only to be recaptured and interrogated multiple times. He was last reliably seen in early 2013.
The revelation follows the collapse of Assad’s government in December 2024, which sparked renewed scrutiny into the fate of thousands of missing Syrians — and a few foreign nationals — swept into the regime’s vast prison network.
Despite a public statement from then-US President Joe Biden expressing hope that Tice was still alive, the journalist was not among those found when prisons were emptied after Assad’s ouster.
Tice’s parents, Debra and Marc Tice, have led a long-standing campaign demanding answers from both the US and Syrian authorities. Debra Tice recently stated that a “credible source” had assured her that Austin was alive and “being treated well” shortly before the regime’s fall.
WafricNews has confirmed that both the Tice family and US officials have been made aware of the contents of these intelligence documents. A Syrian human rights group investigating crimes committed by the Assad regime has also reviewed the files.
Austin Tice, a Georgetown University law student and veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, traveled to Syria in 2012 to document the civil war. He became one of the most high-profile cases among the estimated 100,000 people who disappeared into Assad’s detention system, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
His current status remains unknown, but the confirmation of his imprisonment by the Assad regime marks a significant development in the years-long search for the truth.
By WafricNews Desk.
By WafricNews Desk.
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