Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba dismissed as “totally baseless” on Monday rumors about a “security incident” that had allegedly targeted President Ahmed al-Sharaa and senior figures.
In a Facebook post, he “categorically” rejected all the allegations, urging the people and media to be “accurate and responsible” and to only obtain news from official sources.
Sharaa later appeared in a video widely circulated on Monday using the country's new currency,
He was shown buying items from a shop in Damascus using the new Syrian currency, which went into circulation on January 1.
Social media had over the past few days been circulating AI-generated images that claimed that Sharaa had been injured during a security breach in Damascus and that one of his aides was also wounded.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa urged caution in dealing with rumors that “Sharaa’s government would collapse by the end of the year.”
These claims only aim to spread uncertainty and test the responsiveness of state intuitions, he added.
In a post on the X platform, he said the rumors were started by Israeli accounts before the incidents in the Sweida provinces took place.
The rumors were spread further by media platforms associated with the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and accounts in neighboring countries, as well as by “hostile media”.
Mustafa said that ignoring the rumors “may leave a negative impression among the public”, while giving them attention may serve the interests of those spreading them.
He stressed that official media denied that any security incident had taken place in Damascus and those spreading the rumors only want to promote fake news and test the readiness of the authorities in responding to such media campaigns.
