Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Year 2, Week 3

Tracking the spread of new security forces and security incidents in post-Assad Syria from December 22 to December 28

Announcements 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.

• Aleppo and Idlib

• Damascus

• Coast

• Homs

• Hama

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.