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.
This week saw two serious security incidents in southern Syria, both initiated by the Jordanian government. On October 26, Jordanian jets bombed three sites in southern Syria which their government claimed hosted ISIS cells. The strikes killed at least eight civilians, and no evidence of ISIS fighters or weapons caches has emerged. On October 31, the Jordanian government claimed it clashed with a group of gunmen attempting to enter the country from southern Syria, only to later retract the statement when it was revealed the Jordanian soldiers had actually fired on a group of Syrian children.
Elsewhere in Syria, this week saw a series of security incidents across all sectors. There were several murders in Aleppo city and its countryside, with some perpetrators arrested, and one Alawi man was murdered in Homs city as a result of an apparent financial dispute. Meanwhile, police units have continued to report a regular arrests of theft and drug gangs across the country, as well as conducting several large arrests of Sunni and Alawi regime-era soldiers in Aleppo and Homs.
On the counter-terrorism file, a (likely) ISIS attack targeted the Homs refinery was foiled and a cell arrested in Deir Ez Zor, while unknown gunmen killed a customs officer in Tartous. A likely U.S. airstrike struck a vehicle in southern Homs, though the target’s identity has not been confirmed.