6 killed in clashes between Syria security forces, gunmen in rural Homs

At least six people were killed in clashes between security forces from the new administration and armed groups in the western countryside of Homs province, central Syria. The clashes occurred as part of a combing operation launched by authorities yesterday.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that the General Security Administration, in coordination with the Military Operations Administration, initiated a wide-ranging combing operation in western rural Homs.

SANА indicated that intense clashes took place between the General Security Administration and the Military Operations Administration on one side, and remnants of the former President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime on the other. The clashes occurred in Al-Ghor Al-Gharbiya village near the Lebanese border.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), six gunmen from this area, mostly inhabited by members of the Shia minority, have been killed so far. Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that the fighting involved heavy machine guns and other weapons, with security forces deploying tanks to support their operations in the area.

Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHR’s director, stated that this region was previously home to local groups allied with Lebanese Hezbollah, which had been a key political and military backer of Al-Assad during the conflict that began in 2011. He noted that these groups left the area after the fall of the regime on 8 December.

SANА quoted a source in the General Security Administration as saying the operation aims to target weapon stockpiles, drug traffickers, smugglers and remnants of Assad-aligned militias who have refused to surrender their weapons. The operation has already uncovered a weapons and ammunition depot belonging to the former regime.

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