On Thursday, November 13, 2025, an incident of targeting and vandalizing the shrine of Sheikh Hamid “Ahmad bin Batta al-Shami,” belonging to the Alawite community in the al-Mukharram area in rural Homs in central Syria, took place. Members of a security checkpoint affiliated with the transitional authority “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” prior to their withdrawal following residents’ complaints, broke and removed the doors, tampered with the marble, and cut down trees.
The events escalated with the execution of an arson and looting operation at the shrine on the aforementioned date, under the direction of the security official known as “Abu Mariya” after his group’s withdrawal from the area’s checkpoints. This incident came within the context of a systematic campaign to vandalize the shrines of the Alawite community, prompting the residents of the villages of eastern rural Homs the following day to organize a cleaning campaign to remove the debris and remnants of the attack.
