French investigating magistrates have issued an arrest warrant for ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on suspicion of complicity in war crimes, including the deliberate targeting of civilians, a legal source said Tuesday.

The warrant, issued Jan. 20, is part of an investigation into the case of Salah Abou Nabour, a Franco-Syrian national killed on June 7, 2017, in a bombing raid in Syria.

This is the second arrest warrant issued by French judges for Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by insurgent forces led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

In November 2023, French judges issued a separate warrant for Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.

That warrant followed an investigation into chemical attacks in Douma and Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 that killed more than 1,000 people.

Assad’s government has denied using chemical weapons against opponents during the civil war, which began in March 2011.