LONDON: US journalist and former Marine Austin Tice was abducted in an operation planned for more than a month by forces loyal to former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a BBC investigation reported Thursday.

The BBC cited former members of the National Defense Forces, an Assad-aligned militia, and recordings of discussions about the operation. The evidence suggested that Tice’s disappearance was deliberate and that his driver betrayed him.

Tice disappeared near Darayya, a Damascus suburb, in August 2012, shortly after his 31st birthday, while reporting on Syria’s escalating conflict.

More than a month later, a video showed him blindfolded and appearing distressed. His case has since drawn international attention and been raised by successive US presidents.

The Syrian regime repeatedly denied involvement. However, secret Syrian intelligence files uncovered by the BBC in June 2025 confirmed that Tice had been held in regime detention, according to the broadcaster.

When Assad’s government fell in December 2024, tens of thousands of detainees were released from its prisons. Tice was not among them.

A former Syrian commander has claimed that Tice was executed, but others have disputed the account. His remains have not been found.

US President Joe Biden called on Wednesday for the immediate release of Austin Tice, a former US Marine and a freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012. (Supplied)According to Abu Ali, a former NDF member, the operation began when Tice’s driver told a senior militia figure that the journalist was traveling through rebel-held areas and reporting on opposition forces.

Multiple sources told the BBC that the driver had been providing information to the regime for some time. The information was passed to Bassam Al-Hassan, one of Assad’s most trusted security figures and a senior militia leader, Abu Ali said.

Al-Hassan then reportedly contacted Assad. Abu Ali said he was later summoned to Al-Hassan’s office and told that the president had approved the operation.

The driver initially argued against abducting Tice immediately, suggesting that the militia continue monitoring him to learn more about his activities.

“He trusts me,” the driver reportedly said.

The driver later told regime officials that Tice’s actions appeared suspicious, according to the BBC.

In the days before Tice disappeared, the driver allegedly took his backpack while he was interviewing rebel fighters. The bag contained a MacBook, a satellite transmitter and other personal belongings, which were examined by regime operatives, several sources told the BBC.

According to the BBC’s reconstruction, Tice was abducted shortly before he was due to leave Syria. He had told people he intended to take a break in Lebanon.

His driver took him to a state facility in Tahouneh, on the outskirts of Damascus, where Al-Hassan had an office and Abu Ali was waiting, the report said.

When Tice realized he was being handed over, he tried to offer his driver a blank check. NDF members then seized him and covered his eyes.

In this file photo, Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria since August 2012, hold up photos of him during a new conference, at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP)Abu Ali said Al-Hassan immediately called Assad to inform him that the American had been captured.

The BBC has spent years tracing people connected to the abduction and investigating what happened to Tice.

However, the motive for holding him captive remains unclear. Tice had traveled into areas that many journalists considered too dangerous and had written front-page reports for The Washington Post.

The Assad government was also intensifying its crackdown on those documenting alleged human rights abuses.

Tice’s mother has led a campaign to find her son and establish what happened to him.

Although it is widely believed that Tice was killed on Assad’s orders, his remains have never been found.

LONDON: US journalist and former Marine Austin Tice was abducted in an operation planned for more than a month by forces loyal to former Syrian President Bashar Assad, a BBC investigation reported Thursday.

The BBC cited former members of the National Defense Forces, an Assad-aligned militia, and recordings of discussions about the operation. The evidence suggested that Tice’s disappearance was deliberate and that his driver betrayed him.

Tice disappeared near Darayya, a Damascus suburb, in August 2012, shortly after his 31st birthday, while reporting on Syria’s escalating conflict.

More than a month later, a video showed him blindfolded and appearing distressed. His case has since drawn international attention and been raised by successive US presidents.

The Syrian regime repeatedly denied involvement. However, secret Syrian intelligence files uncovered by the BBC in June 2025 confirmed that Tice had been held in regime detention, according to the broadcaster.

When Assad’s government fell in December 2024, tens of thousands of detainees were released from its prisons. Tice was not among them.

A former Syrian commander has claimed that Tice was executed, but others have disputed the account. His remains have not been found.

US President Joe Biden called on Wednesday for the immediate release of Austin Tice, a former US Marine and a freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Syria in August 2012. (Supplied)According to Abu Ali, a former NDF member, the operation began when Tice’s driver told a senior militia figure that the journalist was traveling through rebel-held areas and reporting on opposition forces.

Multiple sources told the BBC that the driver had been providing information to the regime for some time. The information was passed to Bassam Al-Hassan, one of Assad’s most trusted security figures and a senior militia leader, Abu Ali said.

Al-Hassan then reportedly contacted Assad. Abu Ali said he was later summoned to Al-Hassan’s office and told that the president had approved the operation.

The driver initially argued against abducting Tice immediately, suggesting that the militia continue monitoring him to learn more about his activities.

“He trusts me,” the driver reportedly said.

The driver later told regime officials that Tice’s actions appeared suspicious, according to the BBC.

In the days before Tice disappeared, the driver allegedly took his backpack while he was interviewing rebel fighters. The bag contained a MacBook, a satellite transmitter and other personal belongings, which were examined by regime operatives, several sources told the BBC.

According to the BBC’s reconstruction, Tice was abducted shortly before he was due to leave Syria. He had told people he intended to take a break in Lebanon.

His driver took him to a state facility in Tahouneh, on the outskirts of Damascus, where Al-Hassan had an office and Abu Ali was waiting, the report said.

When Tice realized he was being handed over, he tried to offer his driver a blank check. NDF members then seized him and covered his eyes.

In this file photo, Marc and Debra Tice, the parents of Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria since August 2012, hold up photos of him during a new conference, at the Press Club, in Beirut, Lebanon. (AP)Abu Ali said Al-Hassan immediately called Assad to inform him that the American had been captured.

The BBC has spent years tracing people connected to the abduction and investigating what happened to Tice.

However, the motive for holding him captive remains unclear. Tice had traveled into areas that many journalists considered too dangerous and had written front-page reports for The Washington Post.

The Assad government was also intensifying its crackdown on those documenting alleged human rights abuses.

Tice’s mother has led a campaign to find her son and establish what happened to him.

Although it is widely believed that Tice was killed on Assad’s orders, his remains have never been found.