2025 Syrian coup d'état attempt

2025 Syrian coup d'état attempt
Part of Western Syria clashes (December 2024–present)
Date 16 April 2025 Location Damascus Result Syrian transitional government victory Coup attempt failed Ahmed al-Sharaa remains in power
Belligerents
Syrian transitional government	Assad loyalists
Commanders and leaders
Ahmed al-Sharaa Anas Khattab	Unknown

On 16 April 2025, Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced that a coup attempt by Assad loyalists had been foiled by security services as the country continues to deal with an ongoing Assadist insurgency.

Background

Ever since the Fall of the Assad regime, the new Syrian government faced concerted opposition to their rule from the Alawite coast of Latakia and Tartus Governorates, as the Assad regime had spent generations favoring Alawites in government, business, and military positions. Alawites, fearing reprisal for their loyalty to the Ba'athist regime, organized into militant groups to wage a protracted insurgency against the government, led by former Assadist officers. The government's heavy-handed response to the insurgency led to widespread massacres of Alawite civilians, leading many foreign pundits to fear an increase in sectarian ethnic violence across the country.

Event

On 16 April 2025, Syria's minister of the interior, Anas Khattab, announced that government forces had successfully thwarted an attempted coup by officers loyal to the old regime. The announcement came as part of an increased network of collaboration between the new various security apparatus, from police to military to intelligence. According to Khattab, security forces had been tipped off to the plot, and were able to launch an operation to disrupt it before it could be executed, although exact details of who specifically was involved are scarce.

See also

• 2024 Syrian coup d'état attempt
• 1962 Syrian coup attempt