OMM Redaksiyası
Syrian authorities have arrested a senior Islamic State (ISIS) operative accused of planning attacks in Homs, including a deadly bombing at a mosque in the city last year, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday.
Khaled Raed Birouni, also known as Abu Hassan Dushka, was detained in a security operation in Hujaira, in the Damascus countryside. The General Intelligence Service carried out the operation in coordination with the Internal Security Command in the area, according to the ministry.
Preliminary security information and ongoing investigations indicate that Birouni was the group’s top military commander in its self-proclaimed “Homs Province”, the ministry said.
Authorities accuse him of planning and overseeing several attacks in Homs, including preparing and using explosive devices and carrying out sectarian attacks.
The ministry also said Birouni was responsible for the December 2025 bombing at the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighbourhood of Homs. The Health Ministry said at the time that eight people were killed and 18 injured when an explosive device detonated inside the mosque during Friday prayers.
Since Bashar al-Assad’s government fell on December 8, 2024, authorities have pursued wanted individuals and conducted security operations against armed groups in various parts of Syria as they seek to restore security and establish state control over weapons.
The efforts come amid continuing challenges to stabilising the security situation and preventing attacks on civilians and security personnel.
