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.
Violence dropped this week following a series of sectarian-linked killings over the previous two weeks. The most notable attack came in rural Tartous, where two Alawi men were killed in a targeted shooting near their village. Both men were well-known drug criminals (several Facebook posts by locals over the previous months had denounced their actions) and the killings were likely linked to their criminal activity, not sect. Several men were also arrested or charged in relation to past killings and kidnappings this week.
Security forces arrested eight regime-era criminals in operations across Hama and the coast this week. Most of the men were linked to the Air Force Intelligence or Tiger Forces. Two ISIS members were also arrested in western Homs, in the same town where the bus of Alawi workers was attacked two weeks ago.