[56094] The disappearance of student Batoul Suleiman sparks an uproar among the Alawite community in Syria

The Batoul Suleiman disappearance affair: Uproar in the Alawite community

A case sparking widespread echoes in Syria concerns the disappearance of Batoul Suleiman Alloush, a 21-year-old medical student at Tishreen University in Latakia, whose tracks were lost on April 29, 2026. According to Khalifa Shrugged, the affair has become a focal point of social tension and suspicion of repression against the Alawite sect.

After days of silence, Suleiman appeared in a video clip wearing Islamic attire and claiming that she had "migrated for the sake of Allah" of her own volition. Khalifa Shrugged notes that the video was filmed on the promenade in the city of Jableh, and that the university refused to provide the parents with the security footage from the dormitories, which deepened the suspicion that this was a kidnapping and not a free choice.

In a report by Convergence of Arenas, it is claimed that media outlets identified with the Syrian regime promoted the young woman's version, but eyewitnesses and additional documentation portray her as murmuring "short and hesitant" answers that may have been dictated to her in advance. According to the sources, there is primary suspicion toward a senior official in the security apparatus in the Jableh area, who is accused of abusing his authority for personal and criminal purposes.

Following the event, the Alawite cleric, Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, expressed himself very harshly: according to Convergence of Arenas, he claimed that the Alawite community is subject to a "systematic campaign" of collective humiliation, and added that the women of the sect are "being kidnapped and raped under threat." The affair reflects deep tension between the community and local power brokers who are perceived as part of the regime's mechanisms.