Syria: Hundreds Dead as Pro-Assad Attacks Escalate into Revenge Killings
Government Struggles to Control Violence, Alawite Sect Members Reportedly Targeted
In the aftermath of Syria’s most intense violence since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December, the country’s interim president has called for calm as the death toll continues to rise.
Over the past two days, more than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria’s coastal region, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The violence erupted on Thursday when supporters of the ousted dictator, Bashar al-Assad, launched a series of coordinated attacks and ambushes against Syrian security forces. These attackers are primarily from Assad’s Alawite sect.
In response, Syrian security forces, with support from allied armed groups, carried out brutal raids in the Latakia and Tartous regions. Media reports and eyewitness testimonies indicate that the violence has spiraled into a series of revenge killings.
One eyewitness near the Datour neighborhood in Latakia, who wished to remain anonymous, described how armed men went from house to house, causing widespread panic.
“My friend’s fiancé from Baniyas was shot. They didn’t let anyone help him, so he died from the bleeding. They still haven’t been able to bury him,” she shared with Middle East Eye.
“My aunt, in the village of Bustan al-Basha, lost all her neighbors.”
The eyewitness also revealed that the attackers, who claimed to be from a local militia, searched homes and took belongings, including 20 cars from the neighborhood. However, she clarified that these attackers were not HTS fighters but “terrorist groups.”
“Anyone who tries to leave or appears suspicious is immediately killed.”
In an attempt to escape the violence, some civilians fled to Latakia’s Russian-operated Hmeimim airbase, but armed groups were waiting for them at checkpoints.
“The first question at the checkpoints is whether we are Alawite,” one of the evacuees said.
The situation continues to deteriorate as both sides engage in escalating violence, with civilians caught in the middle of this deadly conflict.
