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School Principal Assassinated.. Escalating Assassinations Reveal Security Fragility in Aleppo Countryside
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The repeated assassination operations in areas controlled by the Syrian interim caretaker government reflect its failure to establish security and protect civilians from competing armed groups
The former principal of the Sharia School in Al-Safira city in eastern Aleppo countryside was killed today after an attack carried out by a group of masked gunmen at a temporary checkpoint they set up on the Oasis Road on the outskirts of the city, in an incident that reflects the state of security chaos in areas controlled by the Syrian interim caretaker government.
Sources indicate that the gunmen intercepted the victim's path and shot him directly, killing him instantly, before fleeing to an unknown destination, in a recurring pattern of violence that reveals the current authorities' inability to impose security and protect civilians.
This attack highlights the escalating wave of assassinations and security breakdown that the region has witnessed since the new authority took control, where multiple power centers compete for influence and control, creating a suitable environment for violence and impunity, and raising questions about the new administration's ability to establish the rule of law.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recorded yesterday the discovery of two unidentified bodies, killed under mysterious circumstances on the road connecting the areas of "Abu Kahf" and "Al-Bira" in the southwestern countryside of Manbij, within areas controlled by the Syrian National Army, indicating a growing phenomenon of violence that transcends administrative boundaries and areas of influence.
The bodies were found in a state of charring due to severe burns, which prevented the identification of the victims, a method that reflects the brutality of the perpetrators and their deliberate attempt to obscure the features of the crime to complicate investigations and hide evidence.
Observers point out that targeting educational and religious figures, as in the case of the former Sharia school principal, indicates a hidden ideological conflict targeting civil and educational institutions, in an attempt to impose extreme visions or settle scores with symbols of the previous phase.
These incidents raise concern among local residents, especially given the recurrence of killings in the area recently, and the absence of transparent investigations or deterrent measures by the authorities, which deepens the state of distrust between citizens and the new administration.
These repeated crimes reveal structural challenges facing the new authority in Damascus in building effective and unified security institutions, as it suffers from the multiplicity of armed entities, overlapping jurisdictions, and lack of coordination, creating a security vacuum exploited by criminal and extremist groups.
These bloody events reflect a real crisis in the existing governance model and raise questions about the current authority's ability to secure stability and rebuild state institutions in a way that achieves citizens' aspirations for security and justice, away from the policies of repression and exclusion that characterized the previous regime.
