The young man Hudhayfa Tuti, a member of the Shiite sect who came from a poor family, was killed on 27 November 2025 as a result of direct gunfire by unknown gunmen while he was working at his stall selling fava beans, which he had built from stones on the outskirts of the village of al-Mazra‘a in the Homs countryside in central Syria.
Convergent field sources reported that the killing was carried out “in cold blood” near members of a General Security checkpoint affiliated The interim authority “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” at the entrance to the village.
After the crime occurred, pages loyal to the authority circulated posts stating that the assassinations had “returned again in response to the demonstrations,” and one of the posts attributed to those pages read:
“After they stopped for a week to give a chance to the law and the courts, demonstrations came out demanding amnesty for criminals; an unknown rifle announces to you the killing of Hudhayfa Tuti.”
The post added: “We give you the good news of a strong return.”
Demonstrations had taken place in the area calling for: “a federal system of governance, an end to killing, an end to arbitrary arrest and kidnapping, and the release of thousands of detainees.”
The context of the crime comes amid the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham over the area, and within a broader context witnessed by several Syrian regions of an escalation in killings, sectarian-motivated violence, and kidnapping operations targeting minorities, with no information about holding the perpetrators accountable.
