Syrian security forces are alleged to have executed dozens of people belonging to the Alawite minority in the coastal province of Latakia, according to a war monitoring group.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 162 civilians have been killed in "field executions" in the region - a heartland of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, who also belongs to the Alawite sect.

An interior ministry source told the country's official news agency Sana that "individual violations" had occurred on the coast and pledged to put a stop to them.

BBC News has not been able to verify claims that the killings were committed by the forces of Syria's new rulers.

The total killed includes 13 women and five children, the SOHR told the AFP news agency.

Syria's new rulers, who ousted Assad in December, said a military operation is now being launched in the former president's home town of Qardaha. 

In his first statement since the violence broke out, the country's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria would pursue the "remnants" of the ousted Assad regime and bring them to trial, Reuters reports.

This follows clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to Assad, which left more than 70 dead. 

A curfew has been imposed in the cities of Homs, Latakia and Tartous, where the fighting has broken out, and the governor of Latakia has said all power to the province has been cut.

Earlier, BBC Verify confirmed two videos that showed a body being dragged behind a car in Latakia.

The violence has left the Alawite community in "a state of horror", a Syrian activist in the city told BBC Newshour. 

"They are feeling so fearful. They are in a state of shock," said the activist, who did not want to use his name for fear of reprisals.

"They don't know what to do. There is no government or state who is ready to help them, to protect them, " he added.

The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said in a statement he was "deeply concerned" by reports of the clashes and killings.

He called on all parties to "refrain from actions that could further inflame tensions, escalate conflict, exacerbate the suffering of affected communities, destabilize Syria, and jeopardize a credible and inclusive political transition."

The region is the heartland of the Alawite minority and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belongs to the sect.

Estimations of the number of people killed in the violence vary, and the BBC has been unable to independently verify them.

Residents say they have been targets of sectarian violence, with one Alawite woman telling BBC Arabic that many Syrians are "scared" regardless of if they were on the coast or in the capital.

She added that "everyone is terrified from the current incitement", and fears they will become "scapegoats".

Turkey and Russia have warned that the bloodshed, the worst since the toppling of Assad in December, threatens the stability of the entire region. Germany has urged Syria to avoid a "spiral of violence" after the clashes.

Alawites, whose sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam, make up around 10% of Syria's population, which is majority Sunni.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxnwrqey4go?ysclid=m8407pw3kj545683843

 

The UN has condemned what it called “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being killed in north-west Syria as clashes between security forces and Assad regime loyalists resulted in the country’s highest death toll since the start of its revolution in 2011.

The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, called on Sunday for investigations into the killings and for perpetrators to be held accountable. “We are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children and hors de combat [surrendered] fighters, being killed,” he said in a statement. “The killing of civilians in coastal areas in north-west Syria must cease, immediately.”

 

Fighting began on Thursday after fighters loyal to the ousted Assad regime ambushed security forces in Jableh, in the coastal Latakia province, sparking a wave of revenge attacks, including against civilians belonging to the minority Alawite sect. Clashes erupted once again on Sunday after security forces were attacked by Assad loyalists at a power plant in Banias, Latakia.

To crush the rebellion, the Syrian government called for reinforcements, with thousands of fighters converging on Syria’s coast from all over the country. Though fighters are nominally under the auspices of the new Syrian government, militias still persist, some of which have been implicated in past human rights abuses and are relatively undisciplined.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that more than 1,000 people had been killed in the attack, including 745 civilians, 125 members of Syrian security forces and 148 Assad loyalists.

Death tolls from the two days of fighting varied wildly, with a second rights group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) saying 148 civilians were killed by Assad loyalists and 327 civilians and captured militants were killed by Syrian security forces.

The Syrian government has not released figures for casualties, and the Guardian has not been able to independently verify the number of deaths.

On Sunday, Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said the developments were within “expected challenges” and called for national unity. “We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace; we can live together,” he said in a video circulated by Arab media, speaking at a mosque in his childhood neighbourhood of Mazzah in Damascus.

Later on Sunday, the Syrian presidency announced the formation of a seven-person committee, comprising judges and one lawyer, tasked with investigating the killings of civilians and security forces in north-west Syria. The committee, which was formed to “achieve civil peace and uncover the truth”, will issue a report with its findings in 30 days.

The US and Russia have asked the UN security council to meet behind closed doors on Monday over the escalating violence, diplomats said on Sunday.

The wide-ranging, coordinated assault was the biggest challenge to the country’s Islamist authorities, three months after opposition fighters led by the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian government has said “individual actions” led to the killing of civilians and that the influx of fighters on the coast had led to human rights violations.

An adviser to Syria’s foreign ministry estimated that 4,000 Assad loyalists were involved in the attacks. Videos showed the bodies of Syrian security officers strewn on the streets as well as bodies seemingly buried hastily in a mass grave in the coastal province of Tartus. The Guardian was unable to independently verify the contents of these videos.

In his statement, Türk said: “There are reports of summary executions on a sectarian basis by unidentified perpetrators, by members of the caretaker authorities’ security forces, as well as by elements associated with the former government.”

The wave of revenge killings, mostly targeting Alawites, by Syrian security forces in Syria’s coastal communities has struck fear into the Alawite community. The Syrian coast is heavily populated by the sect, from which the deposed Syrian president hailed, though most Alawites were not associated with the Assad regime.

Videos showed the bodies of dozens of people in civilian clothes piled up in the town of al-Mukhtariya, where more than 40 people were killed at one time, according to the SNHR.

Other videos showed fighters in security uniforms killing people point-blank, ordering men to bark like dogs and beating captives. The Guardian was not able to independently verify these videos.

A man from the town of al-Sanobar, Latakia, detailed how gunmen killed at least 14 of his neighbours who were all from the Arris family, including a 75-year-old father and his three sons in front of the mother.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/09/north-west-syria-un-latakia-assad-regime-loyalists-killings

 

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