Brawl in mainly Greek Orthodox Syrian town of Suqaylabiyah brings arrests; residents question security response

Syria's Internal Security Forces were sent to Suqaylabiyah, a town in the Ghab plain of Hama province, on Saturday, Oct. 3, after a fight among young men that included an attack on a shop. Authorities said calm had returned and that several people were arrested in Suqaylabiyah and in Qalaat al-Madiq, a mostly Sunni town about 4 kilometers north. That account comes from the state news agency SANA and an Internal Security Forces statement, as summarized by The National and Syria Now. The two accounts differ on how it began. The National, citing residents and state media, said young men from Qalaat al-Madiq went to Suqaylabiyah and started the fight. SANA described an altercation among young men without saying who came from where. No casualties were reported. A local district director said the case would follow legal procedures "without generalizations or attempts to fuel tensions," per SANA as summarized by Syria Now. The Hama governorate blamed "systematic incitement," The National reported.

Suqaylabiyah has about 16,000 residents, most of them Greek Orthodox Christians, down from about 20,000 in December 2024, according to The National. The paper called it the region's second sectarian incident this year. It also noted that some townspeople had joined a pro-government militia during the civil war, which it said has added to local tensions since Bashar al-Assad's fall.

SyriacPress, an outlet serving Syriac and Assyrian communities, reported on Oct. 5 that residents and some Syrian political figures questioned the security response. They said personnel kept Suqaylabiyah residents indoors rather than protecting homes and businesses or quickly detaining those accused of attacks, and that further property damage angered young people. According to SyriacPress sources, some young men then defied the restrictions, which led to more clashes. Two Suqaylabiyah residents were detained over those later clashes and released after town elders intervened; SyriacPress said it could not verify the charges. Greek Orthodox priest Fr. Fadi Sankari urged residents to stay united and reject revenge. "No one has the right to enter your homes or threaten your security and dignity," he said, as quoted by Nadine Maenza, co-chair of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable in Washington, in a post SyriacPress cited. Maenza welcomed the reported arrests and urged accountability.