The Syrian security authorities intensified their operations against ISIS terrorist cells, as part of the investigations that followed the attack on a bus carrying civilians on the Masyaf Bridge in the center of the country last September.
Within less than a week, it was announced that an ISIS cell had been dismantled in the Homs countryside, following the arrest of the organization’s military official in the so-called “Homs Province,” in parallel with the continued pursuit of the remnants of the former regime within the context of transitional justice, and the arrest of seven of those accused of committing crimes and violations against civilians.
After a campaign of raids in the Houla area in the northern countryside of Homs, “the Internal Security Forces, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Service, were able to dismantle a cell linked to ISIS, and thwart terrorist plans that were targeting places of worship and patrols of the Internal Security Forces,” according to a statement published by the Internal Security Forces through their official handles.
The operation resulted in the arrest of two members of the cell, and the seizure of two explosive devices that were prepared for use in carrying out terrorist acts. The statement indicated that preliminary investigations showed that the two detainees assumed “the tasks of receiving and transporting explosive devices for the organization, in addition to the tasks of monitoring places of worship and internal security patrols, as part of sabotage plans aimed at stirring up strife and destabilizing security and stability in the region,” pointing out that “one of the cell members was involved in an attempt to bomb a train track where he was arrested.” He was charged red handed while trying to plant the device.”
The competent authorities are continuing their investigations to uncover and prosecute all members of the cell, and determine its connections and the dimensions of its activity in preparation for taking legal measures against those involved, according to the statement.
This came about three days after the Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of Khaled Raed Biruni, nicknamed “Abu Hassan Dushka,” during a security operation in the town of Hajira in the Damascus countryside. She described the detainee as “the executive arm of the terrorist organization ISIS in Homs,” explaining that security data and ongoing investigations showed that he served as the “general military commander of the organization in Homs Province.”
Al-Biruni is accused of “planning and supervising the implementation of a number of terrorist acts” in the city of Homs, which included preparing and using explosive devices, and carrying out “attacks of a sectarian nature,” most notably the bombing of an Alawite sect mosque in Homs that killed 8 people in late 2025.
The security authorities launched a campaign of persecution and arrests as part of the investigation into the attack that targeted, on September 27, a bus transporting workers near the Masyaf Shift Bridge (on the road between Masyaf and Homs), which resulted in the killing of 7 civilians.
Despite the defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, it has not completely ended, and its small cells still pose a security challenge with their ability to move between Syrian regions and carry out limited operations, taking advantage of field gaps, the fragile security situation, and the state of security chaos in areas far from city centers.
In early October, the International Coalition to Fight ISIS made pledges and financial commitments exceeding $75 million to support Syria in its efforts to combat terrorism and deal with the organization’s remnants, and allocated part of it to fill security gaps and support pre-emptive operations to dismantle the organization’s latent cells.
The Media and Communications Department of the Syrian Ministry of Defense said on Saturday that a soldier in the Syrian Arab Army died of his wounds after being shot last Tuesday evening by unknown assailants in the town of Buqrus in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, according to the official “Syrian News” channel.
One of the customs police patrols was also exposed to fire by unknown assailants near the “Izraa Bridge” in Daraa Governorate while it was accompanying a transit convoy, resulting in the injury of two members of the patrol, according to a statement by the General Authority of Ports and Customs at dawn on Saturday.
In a parallel security context, during the past two days, seven remnants of the former regime were arrested in Masyaf in the Hama countryside, accused of committing crimes, massacres, and serious violations against civilians. A statement by the Internal Security Forces stated that “the two detainees, Nabil Adnan Ismail and Ghazi Muhammad Ismail, worked as group leaders within the former Air Force Intelligence militias, and they are involved in committing crimes of kidnapping, looting, and horrific massacres against people, most notably direct participation in events.” “Aqrab village, in addition to carrying out kidnappings and financial extortion that affected a number of civilians.”
The two arrested brothers, Taher Yousef Al-Muhammad and Talal Yousef Al-Muhammad, who served in the Air Force Intelligence Directorate and the Center for Scientific Studies and Research, also face charges of “committing acts of repression and arrest, and exploiting their job positions to access the files of detainees and blackmail their families.”
Also among those arrested was Faisal Baddour, nicknamed “Tiger’s Chick” due to his severe abuse of civilians. He had been a volunteer since 2012 in armed militias that participated in military operations by former regime forces in the countryside of Hama and Aleppo, in addition to Assef Salama, who volunteered as an “assistant” in defense laboratories until 2018.
This was preceded by the arrest of Shaheen Hamdan Al-Shaheen, one of the founders of the “Shahwahin Regiment” militia, who worked with Air Force Intelligence, and who is accused of committing massacres against civilians, most notably in the eastern countryside of Hama and on the Athreya-Raqqa road during the year 2017. Under his leadership, his group committed crimes of murder, arrest, torture, and sabotage in the city of Palmyra and Deir ez-Zor governorate until 2019.
Seven Palestinians were killed on Saturday in Israeli attacks that targeted several areas in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with artillery shelling and bombing operations that targeted areas on both sides of the Yellow Line, which was expanded in recent days on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Strip.
An air strike carried out by an Israeli drone, on Saturday afternoon, led to the killing of 4 Palestinians and the wounding of 7, some of whom were seriously injured, after targeting a group of young men at the entrance to a residential house in the Haidar Abdel Shafi roundabout area, west of Gaza City, which is crowded with displaced people.
Some of the victims were known to include Hamas activists who were displaced from the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, and live in that area.
A few minutes earlier, another raid targeted 3 Palestinians while they were walking on Jaffa Street, east of Gaza City. This led to the death of one of them, and the wounding of others. While a young man and a woman were seriously injured in a third raid that targeted them on Al-Nafaq Street, east of the city as well.
Meanwhile, early Saturday morning, the child, Shahad Al-Najjar (7 years old), was killed as a result of gunfire from an Israeli quadcopter drone towards the tents of displaced people in the Passports area, west of Gaza City. While it was announced that a Palestinian died from serious wounds he sustained on Friday evening, as a result of an air strike that targeted a tent he was inside in the Mawasi Khan Yunis area, south of the Gaza Strip.
According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, more than 1,486 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire entered into force on October 10, 2025, while more than 5,200 were injured. While the cumulative toll since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, reached more than 74,370 dead, and more than 175,371 injured.
On Saturday, at least 3 Palestinians were injured as a result of sporadic gunfire that targeted tents for the displaced in the vicinity of the Yellow Line in the cities of Gaza and Khan Yunis. While a fourth woman was injured by gunfire towards her feet inside the Yellow Line area east of Khan Yunis, where special medical coordination was allowed to extract her and transfer her for treatment in Gaza hospitals, while a fifth woman was injured by gunfire that targeted her in a similar area in the town of Beit Lahia.
Israeli artillery did not stop targeting the areas of the Al-Zaytoun and Al-Shuja’iya neighborhoods. This caused its fragments to scatter near the tents of the displaced in those areas.
In recent days, the eastern regions of Deir al-Balah have witnessed an expansion of the Yellow Line, amid ongoing bulldozing operations and incursions by Israeli forces, while families whose homes were intact were forced to leave the area after members of armed gangs stormed their homes and asked them to evacuate under orders from the Israeli army.
Two Palestinian families announced in separate statements, on Saturday and Thursday, the killing of two of their sons after they attempted to return from the areas of armed gangs, which they had recently joined under unclear circumstances, to their families in Khan Yunis, after they were targeted by an Israeli drone.
One family said that their son was kidnapped, along with other young men, by a person who claimed that he wanted them to work in a barracks in Deir al-Balah, before he kidnapped them to areas of armed gangs, and while he was trying to escape with another person, they were killed by an Israeli plane.
The Iraqi authorities continue their attempts to contain the repercussions of the devaluation of the dinar against the dollar, including angry political reactions and a sharp decline in commercial activity, while an armed faction called on the Federal Court to intervene and overturn the decision.
On Saturday, officials called for support for what were described as the government’s “economic reforms.” Parliament Speaker Haibat Al-Halbousi said in a press statement that the decision to change the exchange rate was “irreversible.”
Officials in the office of the Prime Minister, Ali Al-Zaidi, tried to mitigate the impact of the decision. Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, a financial advisor to the government, said that the government is working to “control markets, limit unjustified price increases, and confront monopoly, speculation, and exploitation of citizens’ need for food and consumer goods,” according to the official agency.
Politically, the “Rights” bloc, the parliamentary wing of the “Kata’ib Hezbollah” faction in Parliament, called on Saturday, those it called “those affected” by the decision to change the dollar exchange rate, to file an appeal before the Federal Court, and to reject the Ali al-Zaidi government’s decision to raise the price of the American currency against the dinar.
The head of the bloc, Saud Al-Saadi, said during a press conference that the problem lies in mismanagement and the lack of a real fight against corruption, holding successive governments since 2003 responsible for this.
Market adaptation
However, press reports stated that the Iraqi markets have begun to partially adapt to the decision to reduce the value of the dinar against the US dollar, but the exchange rate in the parallel market is still high, which has a negative impact on the movement of daily commercial transactions.
Despite government measures aimed at curbing the rise in the exchange rate in the parallel market, the dollar is still being sold for about 1,630 dinars, a difference of more than 100 dinars from the official price set by the government at 1,520 dinars to the dollar.
Traders in the central Shorja wholesale market, in central Baghdad, informed Asharq Al-Awsat of continued stagnation and turmoil in market movement, in light of a reluctance to buy and sell, but they expressed cautious optimism that conditions could improve if the central bank was able to finance commercial transfers regularly and without obstacles.
However, there are expectations that the exchange rate in the parallel market will stop at the barrier of 1,560 dinars to the dollar, that is, a slight difference from the official rate, if the government continues its measures aimed at restoring balance and stability to the markets.
In a move to control high exchange rates, the Central Bank of Iraq called on Saturday for companies and merchants whose transfers to finance imports were due before October 7, 2026, to review their banks and ensure their implementation.
The Central Bank said in a statement that it “follows up the banking operations carried out before and after adjusting the exchange rate, and verifies the banks’ compliance with the instructions and controls in force, in a way that ensures the protection of the rights of merchants and customers,” stressing “follow up on any delay and verify that merchants are not charged the exchange rate differences for transfers that were proven to be purchased and covered at the previous price.”
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali Al-Zaidi, defended the decision to change the dollar exchange rate, saying that the government took it in light of a financial crisis that was exacerbated by the interruption of oil exports and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, while the decision sparked criticism from representatives and economic experts, amid fears of its impact on the purchasing power of citizens.
“Welfare budget”
Economic affairs specialists continue their criticism of the government, especially regarding the huge amount it included in the draft draft financial budget for the year 2027. The economic expert, Ziad Al-Hashimi, described the budget as a “welfare budget” and not an austerity one, noting that the government “expanded spending by a historical figure that reached 217 trillion dinars, without a real reduction in the exchange doors.”
Al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the expansion of spending in light of the fluctuation in the volume of Iraqi revenues reduced the options available to the government to deal with this crisis,” noting that “the expansion of spending requires the creation of new financial resources to finance it, but this only happened through reducing the value of the dinar, which is one of the tools that achieves limited financial benefit for the government in the short term, while imposing pressure on the poor class.”
Al-Hashemi believed that “the government should have taken a package of measures to control spending, through various measures.”
Media censorship
On the other hand, the Media and Communications Authority, which is responsible for regulating and monitoring media, communications, and information technology, entered the dinar crisis, and the government sought to confront its repercussions. The Authority issued a circular regarding responsible coverage of economic developments and adjusting the exchange rate, stressing “conveying the facts and educating the citizen on what will help him overcome this stage, by adopting accuracy in everything published and broadcast regarding the exchange rate, markets, and salaries, and verifying it from his competent sources before publication.”
The authority stressed “avoiding sensational headlines and staying away from exaggeration and belittlement alike, as they may weaken public confidence.”
The Commission faces criticism from media professionals and activists, against the backdrop of charges related to “political bias, attempting to suppress public freedoms, and restricting access to information,” something the Commission has always denied.
