Lawlessness festers in Homs as Syria struggles to rebuild

Tensions continue to simmer in the Syrian city of Homs, months after the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, with near-daily attacks and assassinations rattling the population.

Residents of Syria's third-largest city report random killings by masked men on motorcycles, kidnappings, and widespread displacement, leaving the city in a constant state of fear.

The latest incident was the Thursday night death of Brig. Gen. Ali Shalhoub, a pilot who served in the former regime's military, with several security personnel injured during an operation to apprehend Shalhoub in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood.

Residents told The New Arab's Arabic language edition, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that they heard heavy gunfire in the area.

Authorities are struggling to contain the violence, as the new government in Damascus faces the arduous task of reuniting a country torn apart by 14 years of conflict and ruled for over half a century by the Assad dynasty.

General Security checkpoints have been erected across the city, including at major roundabouts and junctions.

Several checkpoints also separate the Al-Zahra and Al-Nahda neighbourhoods from the rest of Homs, adding to tensions in the city, however, a heavy security presence has not succeeded in easing sectarian tensions.

On Friday, residents of the Al-Zahraa neighbourhood told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that authorities had foiled an attack by unidentified groups. Videos circulated online showed some perpetrators chanting sectarian slogans, sparking panic and prompting businesses to close as residents feared further violence.

Homs remains religiously diverse, with a majority Sunni population alongside sizeable Alawite, Christian, and Shia communities. Situated close to the Lebanese border, Homs and surrounding towns such as Al-Qusayr served as major bases for the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group before it was driven out following Assad’s fall on 8 December.

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has vowed to pursue former regime officials and its remnants who have launched attacks on security forces, with hundreds arrested in recent months.

However, this campaign has raised fears of sectarian-motivated killings and revenge attacks, particularly targeting the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs.

Global outrage erupted in March when more than 1,000 people, many of them Alawite civilians, were killed across Syria’s coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartus, as well as in Homs.

The interim government said it was thwarting a coup attempt by remnants of the Assad regime and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators, while also pledging to hold accountable those responsible for sectarian violence.