Syria Says It Foiled Plot to Target Homs Refinery, Arrested Cell Members Linked to Hezbollah

Key Facts

Syria said on Tuesday, November 3, that it had foiled a plot to target the Homs refinery and that General Intelligence and Internal Security Forces had arrested members of a cell linked to Hezbollah. The official Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, reported the news that day, saying security agencies carried out the operation in coordination with one another. The announcement described the incident as a foiled plot; it did not say an attack had begun or that the refinery had been hit. The announcement puts a major energy facility at the center of a security operation declared by the Syrian authorities. The report gave no details on when the alleged attack was to take place or how many people were arrested.

The Internal Security Forces said the plot was foiled after close surveillance and that the operation was part of efforts to pursue cells and protect vital facilities and economic assets. The description presents the matter as a security operation to protect an economic facility, alongside the arrest of members of the cell that authorities said was linked to Hezbollah. The security forces provided no further details in their statement about the nature or timing of the alleged plan. The announcement also included no information about damage to the refinery or any impact on its operations. It did not say whether the authorities would announce further measures concerning those arrested.

The Homs refinery is one of Syria’s two main refineries, according to SANA, which said it helps meet local market demand for petroleum products alongside the Baniyas refinery. This role highlights the facility’s importance to the domestic supply system, as the agency links it to providing products for the local market. SANA previously reported that the refinery includes units undergoing rehabilitation and maintenance to increase production capacity. These works include the rehabilitation and maintenance of Atmospheric Distillation Unit No. 10 in October. The agency said the work aims to support local availability of diesel, fuel oil and kerosene.

SANA said Atmospheric Distillation Unit No. 10 has a design capacity of one million tons of crude oil a year. The figure refers to the unit’s design capacity, according to the report, and does not represent actual production announced by the refinery. The agency linked the rehabilitation work to improving the facility’s production capacity and boosting the availability of petroleum products in the local market. In September, Energy Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said the government was continuing to operate the Homs refinery despite its poor technical condition, pending the creation of new refining capacity. The announcement that the plot had been foiled comes against the backdrop of the government’s reliance on continued operations at the facility as it seeks to expand refining capacity.

During a parliamentary session in September, al-Bashir said the government aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in oil by 2028, putting domestic production at about 112,000 barrels a day. He added that the supply gap was about 200,000 barrels a day and was covered by imports. He also said Syria needed $831 million a month to buy crude oil and petroleum products. The figures reflect the scale of the challenge facing the energy sector, as described by the minister, given the gap between domestic production and required supplies. The minister presented the 2028 target as a government plan, not an outcome already achieved.

The announcement follows a series of Syrian security operations reported by SANA in previous weeks, involving different groups and incidents. On November 1, the agency said General Intelligence and Internal Security Forces had arrested two people suspected of belonging to an Islamic State cell in Deir ez-Zor. The authorities had announced the foiling of an Islamic State plot targeting a police patrol in the Damascus countryside on October 16. They also reported dismantling a cell linked to the group in the al-Houla area of Homs province on October 10. Those incidents provide background to the November 3 statement, which concerned a separate allegation of an alleged plot to target the Homs refinery.