Issa Khatib, a shoemaker and father of five children, was in a taxi with his sister-in-law on December 13, 2016 when he was abducted by members of the State Security Forces at a checkpoint located near the Shihan roundabout in Aleppo. He was then transferred to an unknown location.

A former detainee informed Khatib’s relatives that he saw him at the Aleppo branch of the Political Security Directorate in June 2017. The former detainee also informed them that Khatib was arrested for “collaborating with parties affiliated with the opposition to the government”. His arrest fell within the context of the final stage of the battle of Aleppo, which resulted in the Syrian army’s capture of rebel-held areas of the city, where Issa Khatib resided.

In August 2017 and November 2018, his family went to Damascus to enquire about his fate and whereabouts with the military police, but to no avail.