The intelligence files are the first evidence to surface of the Syrian regime’s detention of Mr Tice since search efforts began to find him following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in early December 2024.

The files labelled “Austin Tice” comprised communications from different branches of Syrian intelligence. Their authenticity has been verified by the BBC and law enforcement.

One communication, marked “top secret” shows that he was held in a detention facility in the capital Damascus in 2012.

Additional sources confirmed this to be in Tahouneh and a former senior Syrian intelligence officer also confirmed that Mr Tice had been held in Damascus by a paramilitary group.

But when prisons were emptied after the fall of the government, there was no sign of Mr Tice and his whereabouts are still unknown.