{"id":255822,"date":"2025-03-10T12:32:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T12:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/syrians-demand-better-protection-amid-a-spate-of-kidnappings\/"},"modified":"2025-03-10T12:32:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T12:32:04","slug":"syrians-demand-better-protection-amid-a-spate-of-kidnappings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/10\/syrians-demand-better-protection-amid-a-spate-of-kidnappings\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrians Demand Better Protection Amid a Spate of Kidnappings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/06\/multimedia\/06syria-security-promo\/06syria-security-01-kzql-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Syrians Demand Better Protection Amid a Spate of Kidnappings\" title=\"Syrians Demand Better Protection Amid a Spate of Kidnappings\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The first ransom demand came in a text message on Sami al-Izoo\u2019s phone 10 days after he witnessed his brother being kidnapped, forced into a truck with dark tinted windows by six masked men.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Next came a video in which he said his brother, Abdulrazaq al-Izoo, 60, appeared with his hands tied and a black bag over his head, screaming as he was hit with a stick. Since then, the videos and threats have continued to buzz Mr. al-Izoo\u2019s phone as he struggles to raise the $400,000 that the kidnappers want.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. al-Izoo is not rich and says he does not know why his brother was targeted. He sold a couple of cars and is trying to sell his land, but he doubts that will be enough to cover the enormous sum. \u201cIf I sell everything I have, I won\u2019t reach that amount,\u201d he said from his home in Talbiseh, a suburb of the city of Homs, in central Syria.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The abduction is one of a spate of kidnappings in Syria since the rebel coalition that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/21\/world\/middleeast\/assad-regime-syria-final-days.html\" title=\"\">ousted President Bashar al-Assad<\/a> in December took over. One of its first acts was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/18\/world\/middleeast\/syria-assad-soldier-amnesty.html\" title=\"\">to dismiss<\/a> \u2014 at least temporarily \u2014 all government police and security officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The security forces were instruments of Mr. al-Assad\u2019s oppressive regime, but some Syrians have criticized the decision to dissolve them. Though the new government has replaced some of the officials with its own members and quickly trained police officers, that force cannot sufficiently cover the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sectarian tensions, opportunistic crime and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/15\/world\/middleeast\/syria-justice-revenge-assad-crimes.html\" title=\"\">desire for revenge<\/a> have converged amid a security vacuum that has left many Syrians afraid to go out at night. Kidnappings \u2014 whether for ransom or revenge \u2014 happened in more than <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/article\/syria-civil-war.html\" title=\"\">13 years of civil war<\/a>, but the situation poses a major test of the new government\u2019s ability to keep the country stable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The risk of upheaval was further highlighted in recent days as clashes between government security forces and gunmen loyal to the Assad regime <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/07\/world\/europe\/syria-coast-clashes-assad.html\" title=\"\">erupted in Syria\u2019s coastal region<\/a>, with <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/08\/world\/middleeast\/syria-clashes-assad.html\" title=\"\">scores of people reported killed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is unclear how many people have been abducted over the past three months and who is behind the kidnappings. But family members and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.syriahr.com\/en\/?s=kidnapping\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">groups that monitor events<\/a> in Syria have reported at least a dozen episodes around the country. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Syrians are demanding more police officers and checkpoints in the streets to crack down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey have to show their strength,\u201d Mr. al-Izoo said of the new leaders. \u201cThey need to assert their authority and presence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. al-Izoo, who does not know who kidnapped his brother, said that he had repeatedly asked the new local security forces in charge for help but had gotten nowhere. Security officials in Talbiseh and Homs said they were following up on the kidnapping but gave no further details.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Syria\u2019s new leaders have at times played down safety concerns and said that they expected far worse security challenges and crimes after decades of dictatorship.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cToday there is security, though there are small incidents here and there,\u201d Ahmed al-Shara, Syria\u2019s interim president, said in an interview last month with an independent Syrian TV channel. But, he added, decades of \u201cbad policies can\u2019t be undone in a matter of days or weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The security situation is compounded by other problems, like a severe electricity shortage that leaves some neighborhoods dark at night. In several cities, residents say they have installed metal doors to protect against thieves, and some parents have stopped sending their children to school.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDoes the situation still need work? Yes,\u201d said Lt. Col. Alaa Umran, the police chief for Homs Province who was appointed by the new government. \u201cWhy? Because we dissolved the security apparatus completely and we\u2019re building a security apparatus anew, but it needs time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new leaders ordered thousands of police officers, security officers and soldiers to undergo a \u201creconciliation\u201d process, handing in their IDs, weapons and vehicles as they wait to be investigated. For now, those officers will not be allowed to join the police ranks, officials have said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Colonel Umran defended the decision to dismiss regime security forces, calling them \u201can enemy of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Officials say they are training new police recruits as quickly as possible, graduating classes of 800 to 1,000 every few weeks. At a police training school in Damascus, the capital, last month, dozens of young men in dark blue uniforms marched in formation at their graduation after an abbreviated training. Some held their guns loosely, apparently not yet adept at handling them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Interior Ministry has said that the country needs 50,000 police officers in total and has far fewer than that, though it would not specify a number. All new police trainees will receive longer specialized training in the future, it said in response to questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The new government inherited a chaotic situation, which makes securing the country particularly challenging, said Issam al-Reis, a military adviser with Etana, a Syrian reporting and analysis organization.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is not fair to say that if they don\u2019t succeed in establishing complete security within two or three months, that this is an indication of failure,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need more time. They should be judged based on the size of the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For now, many neighborhoods and towns have little or no police presence. At sundown, the streets of the Zahra neighborhood in Homs empties of its residents as they all head indoors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a recent morning, customers and well-wishers streamed into a vegetable shop to console its owner, Husam Kashi. Just a week before, he said, he was carjacked and kidnapped by two masked men. \u201cThank God for your safe return,\u201d customers said as they shared news of other kidnappings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His tight-knit Christian community and church came together within hours of his abduction to collect 28 million Syrian pounds \u2014 about $2,100 \u2014 which was enough to secure his release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He has been on edge ever since, regularly looking over his shoulder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe want to feel safe again,\u201d Mr. Kashi, a father of two, said as customers around him picked out lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Come 5 p.m. he will close his shop, which used to stay open until 10 p.m., because the streetlights are out. There are also no police patrols, residents said, only a checkpoint at the entrance of the neighborhood staffed by a couple of young men.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some families never receive a ransom demand. One February night, the Shadood brothers, Amjad, 25, and Mohammad, 26, called their mother, Rania Shadood, after midnight to let her know they were walking home from their restaurant jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She stood in the doorway of their home keeping watch, but as the men neared the house, a large van came and stopped in front of them, Ms. Shadood said. She believes whoever was in the van was armed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cMy sons didn\u2019t resist at all, but I could see them shrink away,\u201d she said. \u201cI ran toward them. All I saw was a hand reaching out, grabbing and dragging my younger son into the van,\u201d before her older son got in as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Security forces combed the neighborhood but never found the van, she said. The kidnappers never contacted them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">About a week later their bodies were found by the side of a highway in a neighboring province, the family and the police said. The family is Alawite, a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/27\/world\/middleeast\/syria-alawites-assad.html\" title=\"\">religious minority<\/a> to which the ousted Assad family belong. Under the Assad government, Alawites dominated the ruling class and upper ranks of the military, and they now face attacks, threats and revenge killings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat was their sin? They were coming home tired and hungry,\u201d Ms. Shadood, 47, said. \u201cThey never hurt anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Shadood extended family sat in a dimly lit room, mostly dressed in black after three days of mourning. Though the brothers were gone, they appealed for the government to do more to keep others safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI don\u2019t want another mother to cry like me,\u201d Ms. Shadood said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Muhammad Haj Kadour<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/middleeast\/syria-security-kidnappings.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first ransom demand came in a text message on Sami al-Izoo\u2019s phone 10 days after he witnessed his brother being kidnapped, forced into a truck with dark tinted windows by six masked men. Next came a video in which he said his brother, Abdulrazaq al-Izoo, 60, appeared with his hands tied and a black [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255823,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/03\/06\/multimedia\/06syria-security-promo\/06syria-security-01-kzql-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[163200,163199,54582,164238,189,197653,197654,6273,137131,7829,166088,61352,19366,149632],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255822"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255824,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255822\/revisions\/255824"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}