Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Weeks 30 & 31

Tracking the spread of new security forces and security incidents in post-Assad Syria from June 30 to July 13

As I was conducting field work in Syria during these two weeks, this security weekly will not be as comprehensive as others. However, it still includes all major events that occurred in western Syria during this time.

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

• Damascus

• Coast

• Homs

• Hama

A general trend has set in across western Syria of government security operations and inter-communal violence. Vigilante attacks continue steadily in Aleppo and to a lesser degree in Hama and Damascus. Sectarian crimes against Alawite civilians also continue to occur in Latakia, Homs, Damascus, and Hama. In the first, these murders are largely being committed by members of the Ministry of Defense - either during security operations or as part of personal disputes with locals - and in all cases the perpetrators have been arrested. In Homs, Damascus, and Hama, however, the killers often remain unknown.

Security forces have continued a high rate of arrests of ex-regime officers and criminals, mostly in Idlib, Aleppo, Damascus, and the coast. Weapons seizures/handovers are still not as common as in past months, and weapons smuggling seizures along the Lebanese border have likewise dropped drastically.