A citizen from the Ismaili community was killed in Homs Governorate in central Syria, in a new incident reflecting the escalation of crimes and attacks targeting civilians from religious minorities in the region. Today, 14 March 2026, the body of the citizen Ismail Mustafa Safar was found murdered in the countryside of Homs, after he had been lured outside the city of Salamiyah in the Hama countryside.
The victim, Ismail Mustafa Safar, was originally from the village of Jadou‘a in the countryside of the city of Salamiyah in Hama Governorate. According to the available information, he was lured outside the city of Salamiyah in connection with his work as a taxi driver, after which his body was later discovered murdered in the Homs countryside.
No clear information is currently available regarding the party responsible for the incident or the circumstances surrounding the crime.
This incident comes amid increasing reports of killings, kidnappings, forced displacement, and other violations targeting civilians—particularly members of religious minorities—in various parts of Syria, alongside local calls for the adoption of effective measures to halt these violations and ensure the protection of civilians.
In a separate incident, the young man Hussein Rassem Al-Rajo, a member of the Alawite community, was killed on 13 March 2026 in the Al-Muhajireen neighborhood – Al-Bassel suburb in the city of Homs, after being assaulted with a piece of glass to the neck area, which resulted in his immediate death.
According to available information, the 29-year-old victim had gone to a commercial shop to claim a financial debt owed to him by several individuals. During the discussion that took place between them, the dispute escalated into a physical assault that ended with him being stabbed in the neck with a piece of glass, leading to his death at the scene.
The city of Homs also witnessed two separate kidnapping incidents targeting two young men from the Alawite community on 10 and 11 March 2026, amid escalating security tensions. The incidents occurred in the Al-Zahraa and Wadi Al-Dahab neighborhoods, where an armed group abducted one of the two young men after attacking a commercial shop, while contact with the other was lost after he left his home.
In a related context, the two young men Yasser Hussein Abbas and Hussein Hamdi were killed after contact with them was lost on the evening of Friday, 6 March 2026, in the city of Homs. Their bodies were found on the morning of Saturday, 7 March 2026, murdered, hours after they had disappeared while returning from work. Available information indicates that the two victims belonged to the Alawite community.
These repeated incidents in the city of Homs and its surroundings indicate increasing risks faced by civilians, amid ongoing cases of killing, kidnapping, and targeting, raising serious concerns about civilian safety and the need to conduct independent and transparent investigations to hold those responsible accountable and to ensure that impunity does not prevail.
