Rabat – On March 6, supporters of the overthrown Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, belonging to the minority sect of Alawites, carried out multiple attacks on members of the defense and interior affairs ministries.
Security forces, aided by armed groups, retaliated by carrying out deadly raids across the Syrian coastline and Latakia mountains that amounted to what is described as “revenge killings” in multiple testimonies and media reports.
By March 9, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that almost 1000 Alawite civilians were killed in 39 massacres committed by military and security forces in retaliation for the initial attacks. SOHR added that the death toll also includes 231 members of security services and ministry of defense and 250 Alawite gunmen, bringing the total of fatalities to 1,454 Syrians.
A Latakia eyewitness told Middle-East Eye that the men who raided the houses claimed to be from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the rebel group that led the overturn of the al-Assad regime, however, the eyewitness maintained that they’re not HTS fighters, but rather a “terrorist group.”
Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Mohammad al-Julani, issued a public statement addressing his nation on Sunday, in which he announced the launch of investigations into the massacres, vowing to hold “accountable anyone involved in civilian bloodshed” in the court of law.
Al-Sharaa labeled the groups carrying the violent unrest as “remnants of the former regime” that are attempting to drag Syria back into a civil war, and urged them to surrender immediately.
“The Committee has the right to use whoever it deems appropriate to perform its duties, and submit its report to the Presidency of the Republic within a maximum period of thirty days from the date of issuance of this decision,” he stated.
This violence ensued a mere three months after the collapse of al-Assad’s regime, spearheaded by HTS, and led by Mohammed al-Sharaa, alongside the Turkish backed Syrian National Army. The massacres put a grave damper to Syrian’s hope of starting a new era and healing from the sectarian atrocities committed by the former regime.
