The Commander of Internal Security in Latakia, Brig. Gen. Abdulaziz al-Ahmad, announced that security units have dismantled and seized what he described as “terrorist” and “criminal” cells linked to external coordination, following a series of operations, according to a statement the Interior Ministry published on Saturday, October 25.
The ministry said investigations indicate continued attempts by parties it described as linked to remnants of the former regime to destabilize the governorate through “terrorist acts” targeting vital and government sites, as well as systematic killings and kidnappings, alongside rumor-mongering and incitement. The statement named networks allegedly tied to Nimir Badi al-Assad, and others it said were linked to Muhammad Jaber and Rami Makhlouf, who, according to the ministry, “continue to support criminal activity aimed at undermining civil peace and the cohesion of the state and society.”
The ministry affirmed that Internal Security will respond “firmly” and by all legal means to anyone who threatens the safety of residents and the state, and urged those it called “lost or misled” to immediately turn themselves in to the competent authorities to benefit from due legal process instead of sliding into “paths that lead to ruin.”
Security operations
Internal Security in Latakia said it arrested a cell that had allegedly planned to assassinate media activists and prominent local figures in the governorate with support from Rami Makhlouf (a maternal cousin of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad). In an October 23 statement, Brig. Gen.
Al-Ahmad said the operation was carried out with the Counter-Terrorism Branch in the governorate, and that the cell’s goal was to destabilize security and stability. According to initial findings, Makhlouf backed and financed the cell alongside unnamed external parties seeking to sow chaos, the statement added.
Two days before the former regime fell, Makhlouf had publicly pledged he was ready to provide 50 billion Syrian pounds (about 2.63 million US dollars), “if allowed,” to fund military operations against opposition advances.
Security forces also arrested former Colonel Mohammed Nadim al-Shab, from Latakia, described by authorities as the “right-hand man” of Muhammad Jaber, the commander of the Desert Hawks armed group. Al-Shab was detained on October 20.
Initial investigations alleged his involvement in attacks on Internal Security and army positions, as well as vital sites in the governorate during the March 6 events this year, the formation of armed groups inside the governorate, the recruitment of their members “to carry out operations targeting the state and its institutions,” and involvement in several homicide cases.
The ministry’s press office told Enab Baladi on October 16 that authorities had arrested Nimir Badi al-Assad, a cousin of the deposed president, along with several escorts, in a security operation in Qardaha (Latakia, northwestern Syria). His arrest followed the killing of a man and the kidnapping of a child in Qardaha that the ministry attributed to his group. Investigations alleged that Nimir exploited his family connection to lead organized “terrorist” networks involved in killings, kidnappings, extortion, and armed robbery across multiple governorates. The ministry also said he oversaw drug-manufacturing facilities and the promotion and smuggling of narcotics to neighboring countries, and that he was implicated in the armed attack last March on Internal Security and Ministry of Defense sites in Slinfah (Latakia countryside, northwestern Syria), in the al-Haffa area (Latakia countryside, northwestern Syria).
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