The Syrian Future Movement is following with deep concern and condemnation the recurring theft of copper and fiber-optic cables in the city of Homs and its countryside. Most recently, on Saturday, October 3, 2026, the Syrian Telecom Company announced service outages affecting the Akrama, University Roundabout, Al-Hadara Street, and Al-Zaeem Hospital neighborhoods, as well as the loss of service for approximately 2,500 subscribers in the Al-Ta’minat and Al-Qusour areas, all due to the theft of feeder cables.
The Syrian Future Movement views this alarming recurrence as having evolved into a systematic pattern of attacks on vital infrastructure, signaling a growing threat to the country’s service stability and economic well-being.
The Movement considers the persistence of these thefts—despite repeated announcements regarding the apprehension of criminal gangs in various governorates—to reveal a structural failure in the transitional government’s ability to protect public property and an absence of a comprehensive national strategy for infrastructure protection; this necessitates holding those responsible for this failure accountable. The Syrian Future Movement views the scale of losses resulting from these attacks—based on documented data—with grave concern:
The Syrian Telecom Company announced that service was disrupted for approximately 5,000 subscribers in the Al-Nuzha, Akrama, Al-Khader, and Al-Adawi neighborhoods, while another 1,200 subscribers in the Al-Midan, Karam Al-Shami, and Haj Atef Square neighborhoods were affected, alongside 1,500 subscribers in the Baba Amr neighborhood. Meanwhile, the Director of the Homs Telecom Branch, Engineer Osama Awad, revealed that damage extended to the Al-Qusour, Al-Ta’minat, Akrama, Al-Iddikhar, and Al-Abbasiya neighborhoods, as well as more than ten villages in the Homs countryside, noting that these attacks occur on a near-daily basis.
In Al-Hasakah, the total capacity affected by theft amounted to 43,000 telephone lines, impacting 11,900 subscribers; additionally, the Syrian Telecom Company announced that the cost of electrical cable theft reached $5 million in a single week.
The Syrian Future Movement considers these figures to represent more than mere material losses; they signify the disconnection of millions of Syrians from education, employment, and communication, an exacerbation of the digital divide plaguing the Syrian economy, and the deprivation of citizens’ fundamental rights to basic services.
The Syrian Future Movement holds the transitional government fully responsible for this repeated failure to protect infrastructure, emphasizing that the protection of public property is the primary duty of any state in safeguarding its people’s assets. The Syrian Future Movement considers the continuation of these thefts over several months—despite security agencies announcing the apprehension of gangs in various governorates—to reveal a clear lack of coordination among the relevant authorities and the absence of a proactive, preventive strategy to safeguard the networks before damage occurs.
The Syrian Future Movement reiterates its steadfast position, published on its official website on October 3, 2026, under the title “Repeated Targeting of Government Facilities.” That statement affirmed that “protecting state institutions is primarily the government’s responsibility, and any failure to fulfill this duty is a failure toward the Syrian people, who expect their new state to protect them rather than leave them vulnerable to repeated attacks.”
The Syrian Future Movement reaffirms that this principle applies equally to the protection of telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, which serve as the lifeblood of any modern state.
The Movement also recalls its position published on April 20, 2026, regarding “Circular No. (18) Issued by the Syrian Ministry of Justice.” In that statement, it commended efforts to prevent the smuggling of assets belonging to figures of the defunct regime and emphasized “the importance of strengthening independent oversight and protecting public funds.”
The Syrian Future Movement maintains that protecting telecommunications and electricity infrastructure is integral to safeguarding public funds, and that any negligence regarding this matter constitutes a failure toward the entire Syrian people. The Syrian Future Movement calls upon the transitional government to form an emergency national committee—comprising representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Communications, and Electricity, as well as the relevant governorates—tasked with formulating a comprehensive national plan to protect telecommunications and electricity networks. This committee should define responsibilities and establish a binding timeline for implementing protection measures, while submitting periodic reports to the People’s Assembly.
The Syrian Future Movement advocates for intensifying security patrols around cable networks, installing electronic surveillance systems, and employing modern technologies to detect theft attempts before they occur, drawing on international best practices for critical infrastructure protection. The Movement emphasizes that prevention is less costly than repair, noting that every dinar invested in protection saves substantial sums otherwise spent on maintenance and rehabilitation.
The Syrian Future Movement identifies reliance on aging copper networks—which are easily dismantled, stolen, and sold—as a primary driver of these ongoing attacks.
The Movement calls for accelerating the transition to fiber-optic networks, which are difficult to dismantle or steal and offer faster, more stable services, in line with the plan previously announced by the Syrian Telecommunications Company.
The Syrian Future Movement demands urgent, transparent investigations into every cable theft incident, the determination of individual accountability, the penalizing of those found negligent, and the immediate disclosure of findings to the public.
The Movement views the continuation of these thefts without accountability as a tacit admission of failure that fosters a culture of impunity. The Syrian Future Movement calls for the launch of a national awareness campaign—in cooperation with media outlets and civil society organizations—to educate citizens on the importance of protecting infrastructure and to urge them to report any suspicious activity, mirroring the Syrian Telecom Company’s call for citizens to report any suspicious incidents.
The Syrian Future Movement reiterates its condemnation of all acts of sabotage and theft targeting telecommunications and electricity infrastructure, and expresses its solidarity with affected citizens in Homs and other governorates.
The Syrian Future Movement holds the transitional government fully responsible for protecting these national assets and for providing compensation……supporting those affected and putting an end to these repeated attacks that impact the lives of millions of Syrians.
The Syrian Future Movement emphasizes that protecting infrastructure is not merely a security matter; rather, it is a comprehensive national responsibility requiring coordination among all state institutions, genuine political will, and investment in modern technologies.
