Shafaq News – Damascus

Syria’s Interior Ministry arrested the suspect behind last month’s double murder in Zaidal, the Homs countryside, the ministry announced on Wednesday.

Tension escalated after a Bani Khalid couple was killed in Zaidal, prompting retaliatory attacks across several neighborhoods, including an armed incursion into the predominantly Alawite Al-Abbasiyah district amid revenge chants. The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria accused Bedouin factions, backed by elements of the “de facto authorities,” of carrying out the assault and held the government responsible.

Interior Ministry Spokesperson Nour Al-Din Al-Baba said at a press conference that the suspect is Mohammed Al-Hamid bin Khalifa, 25, who is related to the male victim and known to use crystal meth.

According to Al-Baba, the suspect killed the couple during a robbery attempt, taking advantage of his routine access to their home. When the victims confronted him, he fatally attacked them, then wrote sectarian-tinged messages using the victims’ blood in an attempt to mislead investigators, before setting a fire to destroy evidence.

Regarding the unrest that followed the crime, Al-Baba stated that more than 120 individuals were detained for suspected involvement in rioting or related offenses.