Syria
Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace in Damascus on January 16, 2025. Photo: Handout/Syrian Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Damascus on Monday denied reports of a "security incident" involving interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as "categorically" incorrect. The denial comes amid rumors circulating on Syrian social media suggesting that a shooting had taken place at the presidential palace in recent days.
In a statement on X, Syrian interior ministry Spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said that "some platforms have circulated false reports claiming that a security incident targeted" Sharaa and "several leadership figures, accompanied by forged statements falsely attributed to official authorities."
"We categorically deny these allegations in their entirety," Baba added, urging "citizens and media outlets to exercise accuracy and responsibility and to seek news exclusively from authorized official sources."
The denial comes after Syrian social media users circulated reports claiming that Sharaa had not appeared publicly since Tuesday, amid rumors that a shooting allegedly took place late that day at the Syrian presidential palace targeting Syrian officials.
The reports gained further traction on Sunday when a delegation led by Mazloum Abdi, Chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), traveled to Damascus to hold crucial integration talks with Syrian leadership amid Sharaa’s reported absence.
The meeting was part of a broader effort to bring civil and military institutions in the Kurdish-led region of northeastern Syria (Rojava) under state control, in line with the March 10 agreement reached between Abdi and Sharaa.
However, several Syrian pundits, including Rami Abdulrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra, Interior Minister Anas Khattab, and Intelligence Chief Hussein al-Salama attended the meeting, while Sharaa was notably absent.
The meeting was further attended by Brigadier General Kevin Lambert, Commander of Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, Abdulrahman said.
Meanwhile, the SDF delegation reported on Sunday that in addition to Abdi, its delegation to Damascus included Sipan Hamo, a member of the Kurdish-led forces’s general command, and Sozdar Derik, a senior commander of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), an all-female SDF affiliate.
Last updated at 6:25 pm.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment