DARAA, Syria (AP) - On Sunday, family members of Syrians who have disappeared during the 14-year civil war gathered in the city of Daraa, urging the interim government to intensify efforts to locate their loved ones. The ongoing conflict has led to the tragic disappearance of many individuals, with a 2021 estimate from the United Nations indicating that over 130,000 Syrians have been taken and are unaccounted for. Advocacy group The Syrian Campaign reports that around 112,000 individuals remain missing as of now, with many having been detained by President Bashar Assad's intelligence network, opposition fighters, and the extremist group known as the Islamic State.

In April, after Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted President Assad, there were significant upheavals, including the storming of prisons where detainees of the former regime were held. Families desperately sought answers within the prisons, leading to some emotional reunions. However, the search also revealed mass graves across the country, where rescue services worked to recover remains for identification purposes.

Wafa Mustafa, holding a placard bearing her father Ali's image, is among those affected. Ali was detained by Assad's security forces in 2013, shortly before Wafa fled to Germany, fearing her own arrest. Since his detention, she has not received any communication from him. Although she has participated in protests and raised awareness in European cities, Wafa has made two trips back to Syria since the ouster of Assad, determined to uncover her father's fate.

“I’m trying, feeling both hope and despair, to find any answer on the fate of my father,” she shared with The Associated Press. “I searched inside the prisons, the morgues, the hospitals, and through the bodies of the martyrs, but I still couldn’t find anything.” Her story mirrors those of many who have experienced the pain of losing a family member amid the chaos.

Recently, a United Nations-backed commission called on the interim government, led by Ahmad Al-Sharaa, to safeguard and document evidence from the prisons as part of the ongoing search for the disappeared. The commission emphasized the importance of pursuing those responsible for the detentions and human rights violations.

Additionally, the plight of foreign nationals missing in Syria remains a concern. One notable example is American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in 2012. His mother visited Syria in January and met with Al-Sharaa, seeking information on her son’s whereabouts. Tice's only known contact since his disappearance was a video released weeks later, depicting him blindfolded and held by armed men.

The conflict in Syria began as one of the popular uprisings against Arab dictators during the Arab Spring in 2011. However, it devolved into a brutal civil war after Assad’s forces violently suppressed peaceful protests. The conflict's toll has been devastating, resulting in over half a million deaths and displacing more than 5 million people as refugees. The ongoing struggle for justice and answers continues for countless families, with the search for the missing at the forefront of their efforts.

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Reported from Beirut by Kareem Chehayeb and Ghaith Alsayed, The Associated Press.