News Center – Amid escalating security and military breaches in both northern and southern Syria, the contours of a new phase of tension are emerging, threatening what remains of previous agreements. The repeated attacks, though seemingly scattered, carry signs of strategic shifts that go beyond mere on-the-ground reactions.

 

From Aleppo to Homs and Sweida, scenes of violence and violations recur in the absence of a clear stance from the Syrian Interim Government, which is run by jihadists from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Observers believe these steps are part of a deliberate series of breaches aimed at undermining efforts to maintain security and stability—making close monitoring and decisive action to protect public safety an urgent necessity.

In Aleppo’s al-Siryan neighborhood, “Mari” stadium turned from a sports venue into a scene of terror when HTS militants fired shots above the heads of young men from the Alawite community who were playing football. The incident was followed by physical assaults and the kidnapping of two of them—one was later released, while the other remains missing at the time of reporting.

This incident is not isolated; it came just one day after another young man from Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood was kidnapped, with ransom demanded for his release. The pattern of sectarian violence and extortion continues, amid a complete absence of accountability or deterrence.

 

Militarization of Neighborhoods

In a blatant violation of the April 1 agreement, the Interim Government began establishing military outposts and erecting earthen barriers around Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, despite Article Five of the agreement explicitly requiring the removal of such barriers under the supervision of the internal security forces.

These moves not only show disregard for the agreements but also suggest a deliberate intent to redraw the city’s control map, threatening the fragile stability and placing residents face-to-face with the prospect of renewed escalation.

 

Sweida... Breach of the Truce and Threatened Balances

In the south, specifically in Sweida, the Interim Government breached the truce by targeting the town of Atil, prompting the National Guard to respond to the source of fire. Although the situation was later brought under control, this violation underscores the fragility of understandings in an area of high sectarian and social sensitivity. It also raises questions about the extent of HTS’s commitment—an organization now expanding beyond its traditional strongholds—to ceasefire agreements.

Meanwhile, Homs has witnessed a rise in murder cases, with reports of a married couple killed in the al-Nazihin neighborhood and an attempted abduction of a young woman in al-Sabeel. These incidents, bearing clear sectarian overtones, reflect the collapse of the security structure in areas under the Interim Government’s control and show how the absence of deterrence opens the door to systematic violence.

In conclusion, what is happening is not a series of isolated field incidents but rather a deliberate policy aimed at dismantling what remains of national consensus and reproducing chaos. Areas under the Interim Government have seen a notable increase in kidnappings, killings, and security violations, with no clear position taken by the government regarding these operations—strengthening the perception that it is either unable to control its armed factions or deliberately following a policy of “tactical denial.”

Repeated road and crossing closures between these areas and those administered by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have worsened the suffering of civilians and disrupted commercial and humanitarian movement between the two sides.