On Dec. 22, 2025, Syrian security forces arrested Bilal Abdul Kareem, a U.S. independent journalist and activist who runs the social media-based news agency On the Ground News. He was detained in al-Bab in northern Aleppo governorate, according to his wife and media reports.
Umm Junaid, Abdul Kareem’s wife, said her husband, who has been based in Syria since 2012, was arrested near Al-Fath Mosque in al-Bab. She told CPJ that “two vehicles belonging to the General Security Directorate, filled with armed personnel, surrounded the area before arresting my husband Bilal and taking him to an unknown location.”
“We, as a family, still don’t know anything about him — where he is or why he was arrested. For me, it is a kidnapping,” she said.
CPJ contacted Omar Haj Ahmed, the director general of press affairs at Syria’s Ministry of Information, and Mohammed Saleh, head of media relations at the ministry, both of whom said they were not aware of the arrest.
Abdul Kareem has been a vocal critic of Syria’s new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, particularly amongforeign Islamist circles, accusing the government of compromising Islamic principles since taking power and strengthening ties with the United States. He has also called on authorities to grant citizenship to foreign jihadists who fought alongside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham during the campaign that led to the removal of former President Bashar al-Assad.
In a video published shortly before his detention, Abdul Kareem criticized Syria’s decision to join the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, saying: “the Americans have no legitimate reasons to be here,” and adding, “We simply cannot legitimize the presence of the enemy.”
Abdul Kareem was previously detained in August 2020, when militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham abducted him and his driver in northern Syria. The group was led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who later became Syria’s president after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government and the dissolution of armed factions into state institutions. Abdul Kareem was released after about six months in detention.
Previously, Bilal worked with several major media outlets, including CNN, Channel 4, the BBC, Sky News and Middle East Eye.