Rebuilding Security in New Syria: Week 24

Tracking the spread of new security forces and security incidents in post-Assad Syria from May 19 to May 25

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

Much like the previous week, this week saw a continuation of vigilante killings mostly in Aleppo and Hama cities and more arrests of ex-regime criminals in Damascus and the coast, including multiple senior officials and pilots. Violence returned to the coast in particular this week with multiple cases of attacks against both Sunni and Alawite civilians by armed Bedouins in Latakia. In Tartous, three men were murdered in drive-by shootings on the eastern outskirts of the city, the first serious case of violence close to the city since early April. The perpetrators were reportedly caught, but the continued ability of armed Sunnis - whether civilian or security forces - to carry out such random attacks has kept the local population in a deep state of fear.