At least 1,383 civilians, the overwhelming majority of them Alawites, have been killed in a current wave of violence that gripped Syria’s Mediterranean coast, a warfare monitor stated Wednesday (March 12, 2025).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated the civilians have been killed in “executions by security forces and allied groups” after the violence broke out final week in the coastal heartland of the Alawite minority, to which toppled president Bashar al-Assad belongs.
The Britain-based Observatory added that even because the violence subsided, the toll was nonetheless rising as our bodies continued to be found, many on farmland or in their properties.
“The latest deaths were recorded in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, and the neighbouring central province of Hama,” it stated.
It accused the safety forces and allied teams of collaborating in “field executions, forced displacement and burning of homes, with no legal deterrent”.
The violence started on Thursday when clashes broke out after gunmen loyal to Assad staged assaults on the new safety forces.
At least 231 safety personnel have been killed in the following preventing, in keeping with an official toll. The Observatory stated 250 pro-Assad fighters have been additionally killed.
In a widely-circulated video verified by the Observatory, an aged lady is seen alongside the our bodies of two males believed to be her sons.
Two fighters seem in the background and a voice behind the digicam may be heard shouting that they may “crush” all of the Alawites. AFP couldn’t independently confirm the video.
The Observatory stated the fighters belonged to the safety forces and stated the lady’s grandson was additionally killed in the assault on a village in Latakia.
It recognized the lady as Zarqa Sebahiya, 86, and later spoke to her daughter, who informed the Observatory that she had been guarding the our bodies for 4 days in the hopes of burying them.
The U.N. Human Rights Office stated it had documented “summary executions” that appeared “to have been carried out on a sectarian basis”.
Since Assad was ousted in December, many Alawites have lived in worry of reprisals for his brutal rule.
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that toppled Assad, has vowed to prosecute these behind the “bloodshed of civilians”, and has arrange a fact-finding committee.
The spokesman for the committee, Yasser al-Farhan, has stated Syria is set to “prevent unlawful revenge and guarantee that there is no impunity”.
The authorities have additionally introduced the arrest of at least seven folks since Monday on suspicion of “violations” towards civilians.
HTS, an offshoot of the previous Syrian department of Al-Qaeda, remains to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation by a number of governments together with the United States.
Published – March 13, 2025 03:12 am IST
