<![CDATA[Syria Revisited: Security Weekly]]>

<![CDATA[Syria Revisited: Security Weekly]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/s/security-weeklyhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!f58w!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa001939d-2300-41fb-91ee-12d42335d86b_4032x3024.jpegSyria Revisited: Security Weeklyhttps://www.syriarevisited.com/s/security-weeklySubstackThu, 14 May 2026 06:41:10 GMT<![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 21]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-d29https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-d29Mon, 04 May 2026 00:43:11 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw an increase in vigilante and sectarian killings after a multi-week lull. A rare vigilante killing was conducted in al-Ghab, likely a result of the increased tensions in the region following the arrest of Amjad Yusuf there last week. Several Alawi men were killed in Homs city and its countryside. Some of the murders appear to have been linked to war-time events given their targeted nature. Sunnis victims were also killed in murders and disputes in Hama, Damascus, and Latakia. An MoD member was also reportedly arrested this week by the Military Police for conducting a vigilante killing in Hama.

Security forces have arrested many ex-regime criminals throughout April, detaining men at a far greater rate than previously seen. This week saw at least 11 such arrest operations, some targeting more than one man. Most of these targeted men linked to the regime’s intelligence services, but high profile officers were also arrested. Security forces in Raqqa also conducted three arrests at the end of the week against ex-SDF intelligence and military officials in the governorate.

At the same time, the government continues to release regime POWs from prison this month, generally 1-2 batches per week. This week was no exception, and the trend suggests an accelerated effort by Damascus to process and release ex-soldiers with clean records.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 20]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-208https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-208Mon, 27 Apr 2026 16:32:53 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Violent incidents continued to reduce this week. An off-duty army member was found killed at the Blue Beach Chalet in Latakia, following several days of complaints by locals that tourists were bringing weapons to the beach. Inter-tribal disputes also erupted in Hama, where a large firefight at the sheep market resulted in the MoI shutting the market down, and in Homs, where a Bedouin man was stabbed in a fight with another man, resulting in online misinformation campaigns blaming Alawis and Bedouin mobilization.

The most significant security developments this week occurred in the transitional justice file. Amjad Yousef, the infamous perpetrator of the Tadamon massacre, was captured in his home in rural Hama. His arrest and his family’s protection of him has led to significant online threats against the village, and local Sunnis attempted to storm the village late this week. At the same time, the first trial of a former regime official began in Damascus on Sunday. Meanwhile, the government continues to release ex-regime POWs captured during the 2024 offensive.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 19]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-596https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-596Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:28:23 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Northeast
Aleppo and Idlib
Damascus
Coast
Homs
Hama

Violent incidents reduced this week, with no sectarian killings reported in Homs city. An Alawi man was killed in his home in Baniyas in what was reported as an attack linked to online gambling disputes.

Security forces conducted several large operations this week, targeting significant narcotics and weapons shipments as well as insurgent cells. This includes a three-man Hezbollah cell captured in Qunietra along with mobile rocket launchers. At least five regime-era criminals were also detained by security forces, while a well-known Sunni informant was executed in Homs City. Meanwhile, the government continues near-weekly releases of former regime soldiers from prisons across the country.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 18]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-0fdhttps://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-0fdMon, 13 Apr 2026 03:29:57 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw a slight increase in violence, with five murders in Homs city in particular. Among the dead was a family of three Alawis who were targeted by gunmen reportedly after the wife had shared old photos on Facebook showing that her husband had served in the regime’s forces. At least two kidnapping executions also took place this week, one each in Homs and Damascus.

Meanwhile, security forces arrested at least five regime-era criminals, continuing a recent trend this year. Major counter-narcotics operations were also conducted in border regions including two joint busts alongside the Iraqi and Jordanian governments. Lastly, late in the week government forces prevented a Hezbollah operation attempting to kill a senior Syrian Rabbi in Damascus, detaining the five-person cell.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 17]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-39bhttps://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-39bMon, 06 Apr 2026 18:50:09 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Violence remained at a lower, though still consistent, level this week than the first two months of the year. For the fifth week in a row there was only one reported murder in Homs City, and violence in the Homs countryside also remained minimal. However, there has been growing anger by some Sunni residents in Talkalakh over alleged corruption and abuses by the security official in the area.

The most significant incidents this week came in Hama governorate, following the prior week’s events in Suqaylabiyah. Two Alawi men were murdered in Masyaf, a string of robberies were reported in al-Ghab, and Sunni ex-regime fighters attacked a local MoD member in northwest Hama, triggering a multi-day military operation in the town.

Meanwhile security operations continue across the country, still largely focused on regular crime. A large kidnapping ring was dismantled in Aleppo and three men responsible for killing a taxi driver outside Homs recently were arrested. At the same time, at least six ex-regime criminals were arrested in Homs and Hama.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 16]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-edahttps://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-edaTue, 31 Mar 2026 21:55:05 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Violent events remained minimal this week, but the social fragility of some areas was also highlighted. Attacks in Homs city continue to drop with only one murder reported, and of a Sunni resident. However, a rare murder in rural Latakia and a violent armed robbery in rural Tartous underscore the ongoing dangers in these areas. Furthermore, a small personal conflict in rural Hama erupted into a large mob attack against the Christian village of Suqaylabiyah.

Security forces conducted numerous arrests of criminals throughout the week. These including kidnapping gangs, drug smugglers, and thieves. Interestingly, five regime-era criminals were arrested across the country, and the commander of another regime insurgent faction was killed in a security operation in Latakia.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 15]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-f53https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-f53Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:24:17 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Northeast
Aleppo and Idlib
Damascus
Coast
Homs
Hama

This week saw continued protests and tensions across the northeast related to the ongoing integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces. A video showing a Kurdish man removing the Syrian flag during a Newroz celebration in Kobani triggered a wave of protests in Arab areas, as well as mob violence against Kurdish civilians in Afrin. This in turn resulted in mob attacks against ISC offices in Qamishli and Hasakah and resulted in a series of statements by government and Kurdish leaders condemning all of the actions.

Meanwhile, low-level but persistent violence continued with several murders reported in Homs, Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia. Some of the murders were the result of family disputes, others random sectarian killings, and at least one potentially linked to vigilantism. An Alawi shrine was also attacked in rural Masyaf, the first violent incident in the district since late December.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 14]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-b5fhttps://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-b5fMon, 16 Mar 2026 17:36:33 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Violent incidents in Syria continue to be centered in the Homs governorate, though still not to the degree seen earlier this year. This week saw tensions rise in western Homs, where security operations targeting Sunni smuggling and criminal groups triggered an attack against the local security station. A vigilante killing was also conducted in rural Hama, the first in a long time.

Meanwhile, significant steps were taken this week in the northeast integration deal, including the deployment of Ministry of Interior forces to half a dozen new checkpoints in Hasakah. The new Assistant Minister of Defense for the Eastern Regions was also appointed this week, triggering widespread protests across Raqqa, Hasakah, and Aleppo.

The Ministry of Interior continued to expand this week, with new cadet graduations in both Idlib and Latakia and the opening of the Women’s Police Institute in Damascus.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 13]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-e48https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-e48Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:33:52 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Violent incidents dropped this week following several weeks of near daily killings and attacks, mostly in Homs city. Several men were killed in Homs city and its countryside, as well as a rare murder of an Alawi man in Damascus city. At the same time, ISIS attacks continue in eastern and northern Syria with more than five soldiers left dead. Multiple attempted ISIS operations were also thwarted, including a car bombing in southern Damascus. Government security and intelligence operations appear to have grown substantially in eastern Syria this week, with numerous reports of arrests and deployments across Raqqa and Deir Ez Zor.

Aleppo governorate saw a series of violent incidents late this week, including the murder of a family of four in Aleppo city and the killing of a young girl in southern Aleppo as a result of failed tribal mediation. Tensions in eastern Aleppo also exploded on March 7, when displaced Arab residents of Shuyukh clashed with General Security and SDF forces. This issue, detailed below, remains unresolved and likely to escalate without outside intervention.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 12]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-c59https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-c59Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:30:01 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw near daily violent incident in Homs city, a continuation of escalating violence in the city throughout February. Killings and attacks against security forces were concentrated in and around Akrama neighborhood, but extended north to Zahraa and Abbasiyah. Violence included attacks against minorities and security forces.

This year’s trends of protests across the country continued, with a series of protests in Arab town in the northeast against the reintroduction of SDF forces, protests in Raqqa against the People’s Assembly selection process, and protest and violence in Palmyra due to tensions over a lack of transitional justice.

The week began with a major security operation in the coast, the first one since January, targeting the same belt of villages in the southeast Jableh countryside where ex-Assad insurgents remain active. One civilian was killed in the raid, along with one security member and three insurgents, including two commanders.

Meanwhile, ISIS attacks increased in the northeast, all in the same manner as previously conducted against SDF positions prior to the government’s takeover. Counter-ISIS campaigns ramped up in the response, with several arrests made in Deir Ez Zor.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 9]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-a22https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-a22Sun, 08 Feb 2026 21:38:41 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week, two likely sectarian-motivated attacks were conducted by unknown gunmen in Homs City and Talkalakh, the first such attacks in many weeks. Security forces continued to arrest drug networks and criminal cells involved in robbery and the MoI expanded its presence across parts of the SDF-controlled northeast, holding several meetings with SDF officials throughout the week. Meanwhile, it appears the government launched a new arrest campaign, detaining at least seven former military doctors from Tishreen Military Hospital this week in Damascus, Homs, and Tartous.

This was also the second week in a row which saw Syrians in different parts of the country holding protests for specific issues impacting them. Sunni and Alawi teachers protested new decisions by their ministries and the ongoing dismissals of municipal employees, Arabs across the northeast staged demonstrations against SDF crimes, and security members from Deir Ez Zor held a demonstration against the government’s release of local regime-era criminals.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 8]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-4e3https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-4e3Mon, 02 Feb 2026 06:12:45 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw the full cessation of fighting in the northeast, as Damascus and the SDF appear to have reached a new integration deal. As a result, new Interior Ministry appointments have been made in Hasakah and General Security deployments have expanded across Raqqa, Aleppo, and Hasakah.

Outside of the northeast, intercommunal, vigilante, and sectarian violence remains at an all time low. Local security forces have also advertised arrests against criminals more than armed groups recently, suggesting that the security threat in the country is gradually shifting from armed insurgent groups to regular criminal groups.

Several important security administrative steps were taken this week as well. More than 100 Assad regime soldiers who had been captured during the final battles in 2024 were released from prison, new settlement centers were opened in former SDF areas, and ex-regime Alawi police officers continue to be rehired in Alawi regions.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 7]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-2f2https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-2f2Mon, 26 Jan 2026 05:46:56 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

The SDF-Damascus clashes continued this week, with government forces expanding their control over Arab areas of Hasakah, Raqqa, and Aleppo governorates. Government forces also took control of several ISIS prisons, including al-Hol Camp. However, two ceasefire agreements on January 20 and 25 have seen the territorial advances largely stop, though exchanges of fire and drone attacks continue. This weekly report will focus on the larger state building actions taken in the northeast this week, rather than tracking each military event (this will come in a later report).

Outside of the northeast, security forces arrested several ex-regime officers in Damascus and Hama, conducted coordinated raids against regime insurgents in Latakia, and rescued two previously kidnapped men in rural Damascus. Local violence continues to be at an all time low, with three shootings recorded in Latakia, Homs, and Hama. The killing in Hama, which occurred in rural Salamiyah, resulted in a rare local protests calling for an end to random attacks and expanded disarmament campaigns in the area.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 6]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-0c3https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-0c3Mon, 19 Jan 2026 20:49:32 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw a continuation of the Damascus-SDF conflict following last week’s battle in Aleppo city. Following the SDF’s rapid loss of Sheikh Maqsoud, Damascus and the U.S. called on SDF forces to withdraw from all positions west of the Euphrates. SDF leaders refused and both sides mobilized along the Deir Hafer front. On January 16, Sharaa released a new presidential decree enshrining several key cultural and legal rights to Syrian Kurds. This was followed shortly by an announcement from the SDF on a unilateral withdrawal from “east Aleppo” which would begin the next day. However, SDF forces only partially withdrew and refused to leave southern Raqqa. January 17 saw the start of a large military campaign by Damascus forces against these positions. Despite Kurdish and Alawi forces defending some areas, the SDF quickly collapsed. Local Arab simultaneously began to mobilize against SDF forces in their areas of Raqqa city and Deir Ez Zor. By January 18, locals had expelled the SDF from all of Deir Ez Zor and most of Raqqa city, with government military forces quickly filling the voids and advancing into southern Hasakah. A ceasefire and new integration terms were announced at 7pm on January 18.

Elsewhere in the country small levels of violence continued in Homs, with two shootings and one assassination of a security member, and in the coast, with several robberies in rural Latakia and a rare murder of an Alawi man in southern Tartous. Overall, however, security incidents outside of eastern Syria had decreased this week.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 5]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-c4bhttps://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-c4bMon, 12 Jan 2026 05:55:32 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week’s security events were dominated by the five-day battle in Aleppo city between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for control of three neighborhoods in the northern part of the city. This weekly update includes a detailed day-by-day look at how the battle unfolded.

However, security events continued elsewhere in the country as well. General Security units conducted several arrest operations across the coast and Hama targeted regime insurgents with insurgents and/or criminals conducting several low-level attacks of their own.

While targeted and sectarian killings reduced compared to last week, Homs city was rocked this week by a drive-by shooting at the al-Kindi Hospital which left four doctors and nurses dead and multiple Alawi men were killed in rural eastern Homs by unknown gunmen.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 4]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-820https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-820Mon, 05 Jan 2026 14:38:58 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw significant security operations in the coast, a continuation of the tensions last week both before and during the December 27 protests, with more than one arrest operation per day on average. It was also the second week in a row with a major ISIS attack, this time involving a suicide bomber and gunman attempting to target a church in Aleppo city. However, security forces were able to protect the church, with the bomber detonating himself at a checkpoint killing one police officer.

Meanwhile, targeted and sectarian killings were widespread this week in Damascus, Homs, and Hama. In total, ten Sunni, Alawi, and Shia men were killed by gunmen. Some killings were explicitly linked to past involvement in regime forces, others appeared targeted but with unclear motivations, while at least two were random sectarian-motivated murders conducted by semi-nomadic Bedouins.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 3]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-5b1https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-5b1Mon, 29 Dec 2025 03:05:31 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week saw five major security events across Syria. New clashes broke out between the SDF and Damascus forces in Aleppo city on December 22 and 26 amid a stalled integration process. Internal Security forces conducted a large raid against pro-Assad insurgents in rural Jableh on December 24, resulting in the killing of two insurgents and arrest of a third. One of the insurgents blew himself up during the siege of the house, during which an elderly man living there was killed. It is unclear if he was killed by government forces or when the insurgents committed suicide.

ISIS continues to conduct attacks against Syrian government forces and minorities (the latter under the name of Saraya Ansar Sunnah) including the bombing of an Alawi mosque in Homs on December 26. Alawi protestors then took to the streets on December 28 across several coastal cities in response to calls made by extremist cleric Ghazal Ghazal, with some insurgents using the protests to attack security forces while Sunni crowds mobilized to attack the Alawi demonstrators.

Additionally, Damascus conducted four major anti-ISIS operations on December 24 and December 25 with the support of the international coalition. The operations in Afrin and southern Damascus resulted in the killing and arrest of the of Daraa and Damascus emirs and dismantling of two cells. Minister Anas Khattab highlighted the operations as a result of the positive coordination between the Interior Ministry, General Intelligence Directorate, and the International Coalition.

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]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Week 48]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-d92https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-d92Mon, 10 Nov 2025 16:49:19 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Vigilante killings continued across the country, but not to the same extreme level seen last week. Likely sectarian-motivated murders also continued, with four men killed across Hama and Latakia on November 4 and additional targeted shootings in Homs city throughout the week. Reliable reports of kidnappings slowed this week, but have continued in Latakia and Tartous.

Meanwhile, government forces conducted major anti-insurgent operations across the country, targeting both Assad remnants in the coast and ISIS cells. Several days of anti-insurgent operations were conducted in the Jableh countryside, with two insurgents killed and at least one retaliatory IED attack against a local police station. Several senior-regime era criminals were also arrested, sparking anger among some locals who claimed the generals had been innocent of any crimes.

On November 8 and 9, ISC units launched a nation-wide anti-ISIS campaign in coordination with General Intelligence, conducting more than 60 raids in rural Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, Aleppo, and Deir Ez Zor. The operation resulted in the arrest of more than 70 men and the capture of several explosives workshops.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Week 47]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-660https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-660Mon, 03 Nov 2025 06:59:22 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

Similar violence trends continue through the end of October, largely centered around individual cases of targeted killings and attacks across the country. Vigilante killings soared this week following a rare week of no killings: thirteen men were executed in Aleppo, Idlib, Homs, Hama, and Damascus, almost all of whom are Sunni. Homs city continues to experience a breakdown in security, with at least two more shootings seemingly targeting specific Alawi civilians this week. Aleppo’s Nubl and Zahraa communities also continue to face a gradually increasing threat after nearly a year of calm, with unknown assailants using an IED to destroy two electrical pylons outside the Shia towns. Meanwhile, anti-government attacks were reported in Latakia city and in rural Damascus.

Government arrests continued at a high pace this week, as has been the case throughout October. Regime insurgents, criminal and kidnapping gangs, and senior ranking regime officials have all been arrested across the coast and Homs. Major anti-drug smuggling operations continue across the country as well, and several kidnapping victims were recovered this week, both by security forces and by civilians.

]]><![CDATA[Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Week 46]]>https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-088https://www.syriarevisited.com/p/rebuilding-security-in-new-syria-088Mon, 27 Oct 2025 12:03:23 GMTAnnouncements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. This weekly update is intended to provide base level data for more holistic research into the rebuilding of the security and governance structures of post-Assad Syria. Direct links to primary sources are provided throughout.

This week continued to see individual acts of violence across western Syria, with an increasingly apparent role of regime insurgents. Kidnappings, both claimed and faked, have continued to be reported at a higher rate than in past months. This is the second week in a row that people have been freed from kidnappers attempting to move them into Lebanon, while the body of a Sunni man kidnapped two weeks ago was found in rural Jableh. There were also two cases this week of Alawi insurgents killing Alawi civilians in rural Masyaf (one which occurred this week, and one which occurred two weeks ago but whose perpetrator was confirmed and arrested this week).

Meanwhile, armed Sunni civilians continue to conduct sectarian-motivated attacks in the coast and in Homs, though in small numbers. There were two violent incidents this week entwining both HLP and sectarian motivations, one in Damascus and one in Homs. However, unlike previous weeks, there were no documented vigilante killings this week.

Government security forces continue a high rate of arrests targeting kidnapping gangs and regime insurgents, especially in the coast. Latakia governorate also saw two important milestones this week when the ISC announced the start of the process to hand out civilian IDs to ex-soldiers as well as opening an information center for families to inquire about their loved ones in prison.

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