News Center_ Crime rates are escalating in various Syrian cities recently, amid growing societal fears over the spread of violence and the absence of accountability, in complex security and social circumstances.

The village of Al-Kashfa in the Tartus countryside witnessed a tragic incident that resulted in the death of 18-year-old student Hadeel Mohammed, a member of the Alawite community, after she was run over in front of her school. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, today, Saturday, April 18, the young woman died instantly on Thursday, as local accounts circulate suggesting a possible criminal motive behind the incident.

Information received from residents indicates that the driver is a member of the Ministry of Defense of the Syrian interim government, who had allegedly harassed the student in the days preceding the incident, leading some locals to suspect "deliberate running over."

In contrast, the Ministry of Interior of the Syrian interim government denied these claims, affirming that according to preliminary information, the incident was accidental, amid public demands for a transparent investigation to determine the circumstances of the death.

This incident comes in the context of a notable rise in crime rates in various Syrian regions, where 154 crimes have been recorded since the beginning of 2026, including murders of unknown persons, resulting in 174 victims, among them 127 men, 25 women, and 11 children.