"Deeply concerned" Hundreds killed in "massacres" in Syria

dpa

8.3.2025 - 11:13

Fierce fighting has broken out in Syria between supporters of the ousted government and the new rulers. There are reports of massacres of civilians.

DPA

08.03.2025, 11:13

09.03.2025, 11:33

No time? blue News summarizes for you

Three months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, fierce fighting between supporters of the old regime and the new Islamist transitional government is shaking Syria.
Hundreds of people, including many civilians, have been killed.
Fighters of the new government are said to have carried out massacres of Alawites. Transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa calls on the attackers to surrender.

Three months after the change of power in Syria, several hundred people have been killed or injured in clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad, according to activists. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 330 civilians, including women and children, are said to have been killed by fighters of the new Islamist rulers. The victims belong to the Alawite minority, to which al-Assad also belongs.

The civilians were killed in a manner "indistinguishable from the operations of the former regime's security forces - a collective act of retaliation", according to a report by the UK-based Observatory, which has been following the conflict for years through a network of informants.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa addressed the population on Friday evening. Remnants of the toppled ex-government had tried to "test the new Syria" with attacks. Al-Sharaa praised the reaction of the security forces and called on the attackers to lay down their weapons. Anyone who commits attacks against civilians will be severely punished, the former rebel leader also announced. He did not mention reports of massacres.

Reports of massacres

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, expressed his "deep concern". In a statement, he called on all sides to refrain from actions "that could further inflame tensions, escalate the conflict, exacerbate the suffering of affected communities, destabilize Syria and jeopardize a credible and inclusive political transition". The protection of the civilian population must be upheld in accordance with international law.

"Massacres have been carried out against the Alawite religious community," the Observatory's director, Rami Abdel-Rahman, told the German Press Agency (dpa). Activists from the city of Idlib, with whom dpa was able to speak, blamed armed supporters of the transitional government. They are said to have defied orders from Damascus.

Syrian state television, on the other hand, reported that unknown persons disguised themselves in the uniforms of government troops and committed the acts in order to incite a civil war.

First major test for transitional President al-Shaara

Intelligence chief Anas Chattab had called on his own fighters to exercise restraint. Interim President al-Sharaa called on "all forces that took part in the fighting" to submit to the military commanders and "clear the positions immediately in order to control the current violations". For the former rebel leader, the clashes are the first major test since taking power.

"The remnants of the old regime are exploiting the Syrian government's limited military and security capabilities to obstruct the political transition in Syria," Lina Khatib from the Chatham House think tank told the Wall Street Journal. Al-Sharia's government faces the dilemma of cracking down hard enough on al-Assad supporters to prevent a full-blown uprising - but without alienating the Alawites, who fear for their future and are under attack, the newspaper said.

Intelligence chief Chattab blamed leading figures from the military and security apparatus of the ousted ex-president for the clashes. They had launched a treacherous operation in which dozens of members of the army and police were killed. They were controlled from abroad, Chattab wrote on the online platform X. Thousands of people had gathered in Damascus and several other cities to demonstrate against the armed supporters of al-Assad.

Fighting in the heartland of the Alawites

Many people called for the armed attacks to be repelled. According to the state news agency Sana, the security forces are mainly taking action against al-Assad's supporters along the Mediterranean coast, the heartland of the Alawite minority. Armed groups with links to the ousted previous government are still active in the mountainous coastal region.

Heavy fighting is said to have taken place in the city of Jabla, around 25 kilometers south of Latakia, the capital of the province of the same name. According to Sana, security forces in Latakia repelled an attack on a hospital. Curfews were imposed on the city and the coastal town of Tartus further south until Saturday morning.

According to an officer, the transitional government deployed large contingents of troops to the coastal region on Friday. The government troops had deployed artillery, tanks and rocket launchers. According to the Observatory for Human Rights, at least 237 people have died in the fighting so far.

Assad had ruled Syria for more than two decades. After a lightning offensive led by the Islamist group HTS at the end of last year, he fled to Russia. Since then, the new transitional government led by al-Sharaa has been trying to restore security in the country and revive the economy. When he took office, al-Sharaa promised to involve all groups in the country in a process of political renewal and to respect human rights. He hopes that this will lead to the lifting of Western sanctions against Syria.