Revenge killings of civilians How the latest outbreak of violence in Syria came about
Syria is rocked by heavy fighting three months after the fall of long-term ruler al-Assad. An overview.
10.03.2025, 12:10
10.03.2025, 12:27
dpa
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- The outbreak of violence in Syria between supporters of ousted long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad and the new rulers is estimated to have already claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people.
- Security forces of the Islamist transitional government have carried out outright "massacres" among members of the Alawite religious minority, to which ex-President al-Assad also belongs.
- Answers to the most pressing questions.
An attack by armed supporters of ousted head of state Bashar al-Assad on a security patrol has triggered the worst outbreak of violence in Syria since December.
The counter-offensive against Assad loyalists in the predominantly Alawite coastal region has wreaked havoc in several cities and towns. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the riots have claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people within four days.
Human rights groups have reported dozens of revenge killings carried out by Sunni fighters against the Islamic Alawite minority, regardless of whether they were involved in the uprising or not.
Four questions and answers on the recent violence in the civil war-torn country:
What triggered the violence?
Tensions have already increased since Assad fled from Islamist rebels to Russia at the beginning of December. There have been attacks on Alawites, who held important leadership positions in Syria during the decades-long rule of the Assad family, which came from their ranks. The attacks have continued despite promises by Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa that the country's new leadership will create a political future for Syria that is inclusive and representative of all the country's communities.
On Thursday, pro-Assad Alawite fighters overwhelmed government security forces and later took control of Assad's hometown of Kardaha, while the government in Damascus hurriedly called in reinforcements. Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Hassan Abdel-Ghani said on Sunday that security forces had regained control of the region and were pursuing insurgent leaders. But although the government called for an end to sectarian agitation, many civilians were killed.
Who are the dead?
Most of the dead are apparently members of the Alawite minority, who live mainly in the country's coastal province, including in the cities of Latakia and Tartus. Human rights activists spoke of hundreds of civilians killed.
The Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam and once formed the core constituency of the Assad government in the predominantly Sunni country. In the eyes of Assad's opponents, they were privileged. As the civil war intensified, extremist groups emerged across the country who saw the Alawites as allies of Assad and his main military supporters Russia and Iran.
Little is currently known about the Alawite insurgents, who are made up of the remnants of Assad's military and intelligence services, or who their foreign backers might be.
Why were the Alawites targeted?
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 745 civilians were killed, mostly by gunfire. In addition, 125 members of the government's security forces and 148 fighters from armed groups linked to Assad were killed. The Observatory added that electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around Latakia.
The Syria Campaign and Syrian Network for Human Rights, groups that opposed Assad in the civil war, said on Saturday that both security forces and armed Assad supporters had carried out "mass executions and systematic killings". The Human Rights Network estimated that 100 members of the government's security forces were killed on Thursday and 125 civilians in "suspected revenge killings" over the weekend.
The AP news agency was unable to verify these figures, and conflicting claims of casualties in attacks in Syria have not been uncommon in recent years. Two residents of the coastal region reported that many houses belonging to Alawite families had been looted and set on fire. They spoke from their hiding places out of fear for their lives and did not want to be named.
The government in Damascus explained that its troops had responded to attacks by remnants of the Assad forces. It blamed "individual actions" for the escalating violence.
What are the consequences of the clashes for Damascus?
The new leadership in Damascus is having problems reconciling with the skeptics of its Islamist government as well as with the Kurdish-led forces in the north-east and the Druze minority in southern Syria.
In a speech at the weekend, interim President al-Sharaa appealed to Syrians and the international community to hold accountable anyone who harms civilians and mistreats prisoners. Such human rights violations were commonplace under Assad. Al-Sharaa also set up a committee, composed mainly of judges, to investigate the violence.
Since coming to power, Al-Sharaa has been trying to convince the US and Europe to lift sanctions still imposed on Assad in order to pave the way for an economic recovery that would lift millions of Syrians out of poverty and make the country viable again. However, Washington and Europe are reluctant to take such a step because they first want to see progress towards the inclusive political system in Syria promised by Al-Sharaa.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Sunday that his country "stands with the religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, including the Christian, Druze, Alawite and Kurdish communities". The Syrian government must "bring the perpetrators of these massacres to justice".