Eid violence: shootings and clan clashes leave casualties across Syria

Several separate security incidents during Eid al-Adha left people dead and wounded across multiple Syrian governorates. In Hama countryside, gunmen opened fire on motorcycle riders in the al-Qahira village in the al-Ghab area on May 29 around 9 p.m., killing two civilians and wounding four; local security authorities have launched investigations and search operations. In western Aleppo’s Maarat al-Atareb, armed clashes between two families over longstanding disputes prompted a security alert, temporary checkpoints and reinforcement deployments after the fighting killed one person and wounded others. In Latakia, gunfire erupted near the al-Azhari roundabout following an altercation between two young men on a motorcycle and a car driver; authorities have not confirmed casualties in that incident.

The Interior Ministry said it raised personnel readiness and stepped up deployments across several areas for the holiday, stressing efforts to preserve public calm as forces intervened to break up clashes and pursue suspects. Earlier tensions were also reported in Homs, where on May 20 unidentified assailants threw grenades in Karm al-Zeitoun, wounding a woman; local sources and observers point to a recent pattern of rapid shootings and assaults—so-called “mobile killings”—in some Homs neighborhoods. Investigations and security operations are ongoing in the affected locations as authorities seek to restore order, as reported by Enab Baladi