The European union has decided to impose sanctions on the younger brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and 12 other top Syrian officials for their roles in violence against protestors. The European Union also imposed an arms embargo and ban on equipment that can be used for internal repression.

The list of persons include the head of the intelligence service, General Ali Mamluk and the new Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar, who were also blacklisted for being involved in violence against demonstrators. The names of the officials hit by visa bans and assets freezes were published after the EU formally adopted the sanctions to punish the regime for a crackdown.

Rights groups say that hundreds of people were killed in action by Syrian forces since protests started while Syrian government refuting the allegations insists that it is hunting down terror elements that are terrorizing civilians and damaging public properties.