Authorities in the Harasta area outside Damascus "arrested the criminal pilot Major General Meezar Sawan", the ministry said in a statement.

It said he held several positions including commanding the 20th air force division at a military airport outside the capital.

"He is considered to be involved in issuing orders for warplanes to bomb areas revolting against the former regime" in the Ghouta areas, the statement said, referring to former rebel strongholds outside Damascus that were pounded during Syria's civil war.

Sawan was transferred to the counter-terrorism department for further investigation, it said.

The EU and UK sanctions lists also identify Sawan, born in 1954, as commander of the Syrian air force's 20th division.

According to the European Union, he was "in post after May 2011", the year Syria's conflict erupted with Assad's brutal repression of anti-government protests.

"As a senior officer in the Syrian air force he is responsible for the violent repression of the civilian population including attacks against civilian areas by aircraft operating from airbases under the control of the 20th Division," the EU listing adds.

Since Islamist-led forces ousted Assad in December, the new authorities have occasionally announced the arrest of former security and other officials.

This month, authorities arrested Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of the longtime ruler, in one of the most high-profile arrests so far.

Rights groups have criticised what they see as random arrests of individuals and the apparent absence of a broader plan for central investigations into Assad-era atrocities including forced disappearances.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, many high-ranking officials fled the country after Assad's fall.