“As if it is border checkpoint between two countries” | Airforce Intelligence imposes tightened security at northern entrance to Homs coinciding with Al-Assad visit

SOHR activists have reported that “Airforce Intelligence” branch of the regime’s security services set up a new checkpoint at the main checkpoint at the northern entrance to Homs province, which is under the control of Airforce Intelligence.

The new checkpoint is a prefabricated room aimed at conducting a thorough inspection of cars entering Homs from the northern Homs entrance, coinciding with Al-Asad visit to National defence headquarters.

As in June 2022, a person planed an IED near the entrance to the Airforce Intelligence Branch near the main checkpoint at northern entrance.

Following this attack, the head of the Airforce Intelligence Branch in Homs, Brigadier General, (Shafiq Sarim) changed all the military personnel and the officers stationed at Ma’amal Al-Sukar checkpoint, which is the entry gateway to Homs province from northern Syria as a precautionary measure to avoid the recurrence of any error that would threaten the security of members of the branch and the security officers.

Syrian Observatory activists added that the new members of the checkpoint have tightened their security grip on those wishing to enter Homs city, by carefully inspecting the contents of both private and public cars, and checking the criminal records of most people crossing the official checkpoint.

The shape of the checkpoint from the outside even suggests that it is a border checkpoint between two countries and not between areas within one country, Syria.

The security branches of the Syrian regime share responsibility for protecting the four entrances to Homs, which are distributed as follows:

The Military Security Intelligence is responsible for “Dawar Tadmr and Dawar 8 Azar” checkpoints at the entrance to northern Hama.

State security intelligence is responsible for “Masyaf bridge checkpoint” at the western entrance to Homs.”

Political security and military security intelligence are responsible for the checkpoint on Al-Seteen way at the eastern entrance to Homs province.

It is worth noting that people wishing to cross the Syrian regime’s security checkpoints fear arbitrary arrest and the imposition of levies on them by regime forces, who tightened the screw on the people who crossed their checkpoints on the roads leading to Homs city centre.