Gunmen raid Sayyida Zeinab, Idlib, detain civilians, torch homes
2 Min Read
Armed groups storm homes in Sayyida Zeinab and Idlib, detaining civilians and torching properties amid rising insecurity across Syrian territories.
-
Syrians line up to retrieve money from an ATM in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 (AP)
Armed raids and abductions were reported this week in both southern Damascus and rural Idlib, amid ongoing instability in various regions of Syria.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a government-affiliated armed group linked to the Ministries of Defense and Interior stormed a home in the Sayidah Zeinab area, south of the capital, two days ago.
The raid reportedly involved physical assaults, verbal abuse, and acts of vandalism, including theft and the destruction of personal belongings.
The armed group is said to have detained two brothers, one of them a youth, from the Shiite community, taking them to an unknown location. Their whereabouts remain unknown, and no charges or official statements have been issued regarding the reasons for their detention.
Gunmen attack civilians in Idlib
Meanwhile, in the town of al-Tah in the countryside of Idlib, local sources reported a separate violent incident involving a group of rogue armed militants.
These gunmen attacked several homes under the accusation that the residents had “collaborated with the former regime.”
During the raid, a number of people were detained, and several homes and vehicles were set ablaze, causing panic among local residents.
Residents demand displacement of Shiites
Dozens of individuals linked to armed factions in February gathered in a protest at the entrance of the road leading to the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa in northern Aleppo countryside, Syria.
The demonstration featured slogans demanding the "expulsion" of the Shia-majority towns' residents and the "handover of their homes to people from neighboring villages."
Other inciting messages called for "forcing the residents to pay financial penalties as punishment and compensation" for allegedly not supporting armed factions against the former Syrian government.
The protest followed an online campaign targeting the presence of Nubl and al-Zahraa’s residents, who belong to the Shiite community in northern Aleppo countryside. The incitement campaign also included calls for a march from the towns of Hayyan and Bayanoun toward Nubl.
It is noteworthy that a couple of days after al-Assad's ousting, armed groups attempted to assault the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine.
