Syrian Navy Launches Midnight Operation to Curb Human Smuggling to Cyprus
Security forces arrest armed traffickers during coastal clashes; operation part of broader effort to dismantle smuggling networks off Tartous and Arwad Island.
Watan-At midnight on Friday, Syria’s naval forces under the Ministry of Defense carried out a wide-scale security operation targeting human trafficking boats along the Syrian coast.
In an official statement, the ministry said it had arrested traffickers during the operation, which involved hours-long clashes. Weapons and equipment were seized, and the traffickers were handed over to security authorities, according to Syrian state TV channel Al-Ikhbariya.
The operation is part of ongoing Syrian naval efforts to combat maritime human smuggling—particularly from Arwad Island in Tartous Province to Cyprus, the nearest island in the eastern Mediterranean.
In March, Cypriot rescue authorities recovered the bodies of seven individuals attempting to reach the island from Tartous by boat, believed to be carrying around 20 people.
At the time, Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation reported that an unknown number of passengers remained missing, while two survivors were rescued in international waters roughly 55 kilometers southeast of the island.
Since the fall of the previous Syrian regime, the Syrian navy has intensified its coastal patrols to dismantle armed and organized smuggling networks, which pose significant threats to both Syrian internal security and the safety of neighboring countries.
