Updated on 19 Jul 202619 Jul 2026.

The shake-up is the latest in a series of moves by President al-Sharaa's transitional government to assert control over the country's security institutions.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa has overhauled Syria’s security and intelligence leadership, expanding the powers of his interior minister and installing a new intelligence chief as part of a broader shake-up of state security bodies.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Anas Khattab was assigned the additional role of head of the National Security Bureau, which coordinates Syria’s multiple security agencies, while retaining his ministerial portfolio, according to state news agency SANA.

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The appointments also include Hussein al-Salamah as deputy head of the bureau, Mulham al-Shantout as assistant interior minister for security affairs, and Abdul Qader Tahan as director of the General Intelligence Service.

Syrian authorities described the reshuffle as part of efforts to strengthen national security, promote stability and remove obstacles to reconstruction.

The General Intelligence Service is responsible for gathering intelligence, producing assessments on domestic and foreign threats and countering espionage and terrorism.

Its new chief now sits legally under Khattab’s authority, consolidating oversight of Syria’s security apparatus under one of the most powerful officials in al-Sharaa’s government.

Omer Ozkizilcik, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Syria Project, told Al Jazeera that the reshuffle reflects an effort to formalise power structures carried over from al-Sharaa’s administration in Idlib, when Khattab oversaw both intelligence and policing duties that later overlapped with Salamah’s.

Syria’s transitional government under al-Sharaa was formed a month after former President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, ending decades of Assad family rule.

Al-Sharaa’s administration has sought to present itself as a unifying, reform-minded government while working to bring Syria’s fragmented security structure under central control.

The reshuffle comes after a turbulent few weeks for Syria’s security services. An explosion killed at least 10 people when it tore through a cafe near the main judicial complex in Damascus on July 2.

Five days later, a person was killed and 36 wounded when explosive devices hidden in a rubbish bin and a parked car detonated in the capital as French President Emmanuel Macron met al-Sharaa at the presidential palace,

Syrian authorities said they arrested members of an ISIL-linked cell blamed for both attacks, tracing suspects through security camera video.

Earlier this month, customs officers at the Iraqi border intercepted a shipment of missiles, rockets and drones concealed in an oil tanker, which they said was bound for Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned group in Lebanon. Hezbollah denied the allegation.

During his visit, Macron, the first major Western leader to visit since al-Sharaa established himself in Damascus, restored full diplomatic relations with Syria.

Days later, at a NATO summit in Turkiye, US President Donald Trump met al-Sharaa, and Washington announced it would remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

By placing the intelligence service under Khattab's authority, the reshuffle concentrates significant security power in one official. Syrian authorities say it is intended to improve coordination and remove barriers to reconstruction. Analysts view it as a step toward institutionalizing the security structures that emerged during al-Sharaa's previous rule in Idlib.