Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Week 17

Tracking the spread of new security forces and security incidents in post-Assad Syria from March 31 to April 6

Announcements of security deployments mostly in western Syria, with an emphasis on the minority regions. Content is categorized as deployment, crime, statement, arrest, operation. 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 provided throughout.

• Aleppo

• Damascus

• Coast

• Homs

• Hama

Violence continues unabated in coastal areas, with daily reports of Alawite civilians being kidnapped and executed or shot at in drive by shootings. So far it appears to remain as limited incidents each day - nothing like what occurred in early March - but the current trend puts Latakia and Tartous at a high risk of looking like Homs soon. Violence is not uniform, however, with parts of the coast remaining relatively safe, such as the Sheikh Badr, Qadmus, and Bahouliyah Districts.

Arrests continue in Idlib, Damascus, and Hama largely targeting Sunni ex-regime criminals. In Aleppo, the government and SDF reached a deal that saw the removal of most YPG/J and Kurdish insurgent forces from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh districts and the entry of government General Security units, which will likely work alongside some remaining Kurdish Asayish forces to maintain security as the neighborhoods rejoin the rest of the city.