Local sources documented that individuals affiliated with the Public Security of the interim authority, “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” abducted father Ghiath Kanuj and his son Ahmad Kanuj while they were working on their agricultural land along Al-Furn Road in the village of Al-Suboura, in the Salamiya countryside, east of Hama Governorate, on December 14, 2025.
Both Ghiath and Ahmad Kanuj work in agriculture and are civilians from the Alawite sect, indicating that the abduction was part of targeting civilians on a sectarian basis. The abduction was carried out openly in front of village residents by armed men originating from a neighboring village.
This incident comes amid escalating violations against civilians in areas under the control of “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” with ongoing cases of arrest and enforced disappearance in various parts of Syria, particularly targeting individuals belonging to the Alawite sect. On December 13, 2025, local sources documented the arrest of two minor youths from the town of Al-Muzayra’a in the Latakia countryside, Ali Haitham Assaf and Hadi Nizar Assaf (17 years old), without charges or disclosure of their place of detention, while they were on their way to sell milk.
During the same period, several other disappearances were recorded on the Syrian coast, including: loss of contact with Basel Nasr Saqour (36 years old) in the village of Jabal Al-Nouba in the Salnfeh countryside on December 12; disappearance of Mohammad Samir Ajeeb while traveling from his village Fadra to the city of Latakia on December 11; disappearance of Jaafar Mohammad Mousa (25 years old) after leaving his home in the village of Ain Shaqaq in the Jableh countryside on December 7; in addition to the abduction of Ali Talal Al-Hassan in Kafrsousa, in the capital Damascus, on December 12, according to surveillance camera recordings.
These incidents indicate an escalation in the systematic targeting of civilians, particularly those from religious and sectarian minorities, along with the absence of any official statements regarding the fate of the victims or the parties responsible for these violations, reflecting the urgent need to provide effective protection guarantees for civilians and to uncover the fate of the missing.
