The volatile situation in the Middle East continues unabated. Since the day Bashar al-Assad was ousted by US-backed HTS terrorists, it was presumed that once the country stabilizes under the new Ahmed al-Sharaa regime, the war torn nation will see some peace and quiet. However the region has erupted once again. As per world media, more than 1,300 civilians, particularly religious minorities including Christians, Alawites have been killed in “acts of revenge” in less than 72 hours.
While media reports have described it as clashes between Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad, the HTS terrorists have been on a killing spree and hunting down Alawites and other religious minorities. Horrifying visuals from Syria have been flooding social media platforms in which countless dead bodies can be seen lying on roads. The veracity of these individual posts circulating on social media is yet to be ascertained. The ghastly pandemonium doesn’t stop there either. The terror regime has also been committing the worst of crimes against women, parading women of these minority groups naked on streets.
This photo shows a village in Syria that was completely massacred.
When Israel defends itself, outrage erupts. But when entire Syrian villages are erased, the world stays silent. pic.twitter.com/kR7uWouakv
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 10, 2025
In Syria, the new Islamic regime are making Christians crawl and make noises like dogs as a genocide takes place.
Why do leftist students on University campuses only protest for Palestine and not this? pic.twitter.com/KbjsDuZuDJ
— Basil the Great (@Basil_TGMD) March 10, 2025
Christians in Syria. Islam is a problem everywhere. pic.twitter.com/Y5Gvauuv7T
— RadioGenoa (@RadioGenoa) March 9, 2025
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights(SOHR), the incidents have taken place in the coastal province of Latakia. It is the worst violence in Syria since HTS terrorists toppled Assad in December and installed the Islamist transitional government under HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham).
Syria’s current transitional leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa on Friday urged insurgents from ousted president Bashar Assad’s Alawite minority to lay down their arms or face the consequences after the fiercest attacks on the war-torn country’s new rulers yet. According to a Syrian war monitor, the threat came as Syria’s security forces “executed” 162 Alawites on Friday.
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The Britain-based Observatory said: “Five separate massacres claimed the lives of 162 civilians in Syria’s coastal region on Friday, including women and children. The vast majority of the victims were summarily executed by elements affiliated to the Ministry of Defense and the Interior, both under the Islamist-led authorities control.”
Attack on Alawites
The Alawites are an Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism. A sect of Shia Islam, Surveys suggest Alawites represent an important portion of the Syrian population and are a significant minority in the Hatay Province of Turkey and northern Lebanon. There is also a population living in the village of Ghajar in the Golan Heights. The Alawites form the dominant religious group on the Syrian coast and towns near the coast, which are also inhabited by Sunnis, Christians, and Ismailis. As per 2023 data, Syria has a population of around 2.36 crore with 74% following Sunni Islam, 12% following Alawite sect, 11% following Christianity and around 3% of the total population are Druze.
Over the years the Alawite community have been strong backers of the Assad family. The Assad family are themselves from the Alawite sect and had been promoting their own community. The Alawites had been given prime positions of power and had managed the ground control for the Asaad forces. Enjoying the patronage of the Assad family it is estimated that more than 80 per cent of the Alawites worked for the state.
They had long continued to be staunch Assad family loyalists. However now after the ouster of the Assad family the Alawite community has become the target of other sects that believe the Alawites had unleashed incredible oppression on them with powerful state backing under Assad.
Current Violence
The current violence erupted in Jableh, a town in Latakia province where the security forces launched operations to eliminate Assad loyalists who had reorganized in the mountainous coastal region. The coastal region is the heartland of the Alawite minority and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belong to the Alawite sect. The violence has erupted in multiple locations in Syria. There have also been reports of clashes in the cities of Homs and Aleppo. A spokesman for Syria’s defence ministry, Colonel Hassan Abdul Ghani, issued a warning to Assad loyalists fighting in Latakia via state media.
According to earlier reports, the death toll was 48, with SOHR describing the fighting as the “most violent” since Islamist rebels ousted Assad in December. The dead included 16 security personnel and 28 pro-Assad fighters, while others were wounded or captured. A curfew was also imposed in Latakia and Tartous port cities, where the fighting broken out. Reports suggest that the clashes erupted when gunmen linked to an Assad-era commander, Suhail al-Hassan, attacked security patrols and checkpoints. In response, government forces launched helicopter strikes on a village in Latakia.
Al-Hassan, nicknamed “The Tiger”, was a key military commander under Assad, leading special forces in major battles against the rebels in 2015. His hometown, Beit Ana, became a focal point of the latest tensions after residents reportedly disrupted security forces during an operation to arrest an arms dealer.
Latakia’s security director, Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kunaifati, told state news agency SANA, “The armed groups that our security forces were clashing within the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail al-Hassan, who committed the most heinous massacres against the Syrian people.”
Security forces have been deployed in and around Jableh to restore order. Reports indicate that Alawite community leaders have accused the government of targeting peaceful protesters in helicopter strikes. The Alawites, Assad’s sectarian base, largely backed him during his rule but are now caught in the turmoil following his downfall.
Volatile situation in Syria
The violence has increased in Syria for a few weeks. Previously, Syrian regime forces clashed with local Druze gunmen. The gunmen from the Damascus suburb of Mleiha entered Jaramana and clashed with Druze fighters, which caused one Druze gunman dead and nine others wounded.
The situation looks volatile, and different ethnic and power groups have again started fighting for dominance in Syria. Israel has already destroyed the state military bases and equipment in the bordering region, making the new Syrian government lame militarily. The upcoming weeks look crucial for the new Syrian government.
The latest violence is part of Syria’s ongoing instability following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. His ouster, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorists, marked the end of his 24-year rule and the Assad family’s five-decade hold on power. In the final hours before Damascus fell to the HTS terror group, Assad took refuge in Russia.
As his government collapsed, security forces abandoned their posts, allowing HTS terrorists to seize control of Damascus. Assad’s brother Maher and other key regime figures also fled, while HTS terrorists ambushed some.
Since Assad’s departure, the HTS-led terrorists have promised an “inclusive government”, but concerns remain over their Islamist ties. The violence on minority communities such as Alawites, Druze and Christian has intensified and expected to rise in coming weeks.
