International Hundreds killed in Syrian crackdown on Alawite region, war monitor says

[LeonardoBjj]

By Timour Azhari

• Syrian authorities face insurgency by Assad's Alawite sect
• War monitor says 340 killed by gunmen and security forces
• Dozens of security forces killed, security official says

March 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen and security forces linked to Syria's new Islamist rulers have killed more than 340 people, including women and children from the Alawite minority, in the country's coastal region since Thursday, the head of a war monitor said.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the widespread killings in Jableh, Baniyas and surrounding areas in Syria's Alawite heartland amounted to the worst violence for years in a 13-year-old civil conflict.

The new ruling authority on Thursday began a crackdown on what it said was a nascent insurgency after deadly ambushes by militants linked to former president Bashar al-Assad's government.

Several dozen members of the security forces have been killed in heavy clashes with militants, a Syrian security official said.
Officials have acknowledged violations during the operation, which they have blamed on unorganized masses of civilians and fighters who sought to support official security forces or commit crimes amid the chaos of the fighting.

A defence ministry source on Saturday told state media that all roads leading to the coast had been blocked to stop violations and help return calm, with security forces deploying in streets of coastal cities.

The source added that an emergency committee set up to monitor violations would refer anyone found not to have obeyed the orders of the military command to a military court.

The reported scale of the violence, which includes reports of an execution-style killing of dozens of Alawite men in one village, puts into further question the Islamist ruling authority's ability to govern in an inclusive manner, which Western and Arab capitals have said is a key concern.

Assad was overthrown last December after decades of dynastic rule by his family marked by severe repression and a devastating civil war.

Syria's interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, while backing the crackdown in a televised address late on Friday, said security forces should not allow anyone to "exaggerate in their response... because what differentiates us from our enemy is our commitment to our values."

"When we give up on our morals, us and our enemy end up on the same side," he said, adding that civilians and captives should not be mistreated.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN MOURNING​

Syrian Facebook on Saturday was filled with images and obituaries of people from the coastal area being mourned by family and friends who said they had been killed.

Abdulrahman, a leading critical voice against the Assad-led government who documented its alleged killings for more than a decade, said: "This is not about being pro or against the former Assad regime. These are sectarian massacres that aim to expel the Alawite population from their homes."

The defence ministry and internal security agency said on Saturday they were trying to restore calm and order and prevent any violations against civilians in the coastal region.

Six residents of the coastal region said thousands of Alawites and Christians had fled their homes since Thursday, fearing for their lives.

Several hundred, mostly women and children and elders, sought refuge at a Russian Mediterranean military base at Hmeimim in Latakia, according to footage from the scene and two people familiar with the matter.

Abdulrahman and four people in the coastal region who spoke on condition of anonymity said killings, looting and burning of homes had continued overnight in Baniyas and in surrounding villages.
Reuters could not independently verify the assertions.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...n-alawite-region-war-monitor-says-2025-03-08/

 

[Stoic1]

Deposing Assad is going to be as bad as Saddam.

People don't understand that the middle east NEEDS the strongman dictator type leadership to keep these fucking cavemen in line. The alternative is always worse.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

2 days of clashes and revenge killings in Syria leave more than 1,000 people dead​

BY BASSEM MROUE AND SARAH EL DEEB
Updated 6:50 PM BRT, March 8, 2025

BEIRUT (AP) — The death toll from two days of clashes between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad and revenge killings that followed has risen to more than 1,000, a war monitoring group said Saturday, making it one of the deadliest acts of violence since Syria’s conflict began 14 years ago.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in addition to 745 civilians killed, mostly in shootings from close distance, 125 government security force members and 148 militants with armed groups affiliated with Assad were killed. It added that electricity and drinking water were cut off in large areas around the city of Latakia.

The clashes, which erupted Thursday, marked a major escalation in the challenge to the new government in Damascus, three months after insurgents took authority after removing Assad from power.

The government has said that they were responding to attacks from remnants of Assad’s forces and blamed “individual actions” for the rampant violence.

Retribution killings between Sunnis and Alawites​

The revenge killings that started Friday by Sunni Muslim gunmen loyal to the government against members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect are a major blow to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the faction that led the overthrow of the former government. Alawites made up a large part of Assad’s support base for decades.

Residents of Alawite villages and towns spoke to The Associated Press about killings during which gunmen shot Alawites, the majority of them men, in the streets or at the gates of their homes. Many homes of Alawites were looted and then set on fire in different areas, two residents of Syria’s coastal region told the AP from their hideouts.

They asked that their names not be made public out of fear of being killed by gunmen, adding that thousands of people have fled to nearby mountains for safety.

Residents speak of atrocities in one town​

Residents of Baniyas, one of the towns worst hit by the violence, said bodies were strewn on the streets or left unburied in homes and on the roofs of buildings, and nobody was able to collect them. One resident said that the gunmen prevented residents for hours from removing the bodies of five of their neighbors killed Friday at close range.

Ali Sheha, a 57-year-old resident of Baniyas who fled with his family and neighbors hours after the violence broke out Friday, said that at least 20 of his neighbors and colleagues in one neighborhood of Baniyas where Alawites lived, were killed, some of them in their shops, or in their homes.

Sheha called the attacks “revenge killings” of the Alawite minority for the crimes committed by Assad’s government. Other residents said the gunmen included foreign fighters, and militants from neighboring villages and towns.

“It was very very bad. Bodies were on the streets,” as he was fleeing, Sheha said, speaking by phone from nearly 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the city. He said the gunmen were gathering less than 100 meters from his apartment building, firing randomly at homes and residents and in at least one incident he knows of, asked residents for their IDs to check their religion and their sect before killing them. He said the gunmen also burned some homes and stole cars and robbed homes.

Death toll has multiplied​

The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said that revenge killings stopped early Saturday.

“This was one of the biggest massacres during the Syrian conflict,” Abdurrahman said about the killings of Alawite civilians.

The previous figure given by the group was more than 600 dead. No official figures have been released.

A funeral was held Saturday afternoon for four Syrian security force members in the northwestern village of Al-Janoudiya after they were killed in the clashes along Syria’s coast. Scores of people attended the funeral.

Official reports say Syrian forces regaining control​

Syria’s state news agency quoted an unnamed Defense Ministry official as saying that government forces have regained control of much of the areas from Assad loyalists. It added that authorities have closed all roads leading to the coastal region “to prevent violations and gradually restore stability.”

On Saturday morning, the bodies of 31 people killed in revenge attacks the day before in the central village of Tuwaym were laid to rest in a mass grave, residents said. Those killed included nine children and four women, the residents said, sending the AP photos of the bodies draped in white cloth as they were lined in the mass grave.

Lebanese legislator Haidar Nasser, who holds one of the two seats allocated to the Alawite sect in parliament, said that people were fleeing from Syria for safety in Lebanon. He said he didn’t have exact numbers.

Nasser said that many people were sheltering at the Russian air base in Hmeimim, Syria, adding that the international community should protect Alawites who are Syrian citizens loyal to their country. He said that since Assad’s fall, many Alawites were fired from their jobs and some former soldiers who reconciled with the new authorities were killed.

Under Assad, Alawites held top posts in the army and security agencies. The new government has blamed his loyalists for attacks against the country’s new security forces over the past several weeks.

France expressed “its deep concern” over recent violence in Syria. Paris “condemns in the strongest possible terms atrocities committed against civilians on the basis of religion grounds and against prisoners,” its foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday.

France urged Syrian interim authorities to make sure independent investigations “shed full light on these crimes.”

The most recent clashes started when government forces tried to detain a wanted person near the coastal city of Jableh, and were ambushed by Assad loyalists, according to the Observatory.

https://apnews.com/article/syria-al...st-assad-hts-610cdee1d5762d3ecb75c700fb7cf5f2

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Deposing Assad is going to be as bad as Saddam.

People don't understand that the middle east NEEDS the strongman dictator type leadership to keep these fucking cavemen in line. The alternative is always worse.

- It's like here when a leader of a criminal faction gets killed. Theres a vacuum in power, and guys start wars to see who will fill that vacuum.

 

[Kingz]

As predicted but even sooner than expected

Neocon/Democrat alliance backed the wrong horse yet again but I bet they have no interest in Syria anymore.

Assad was always better than ISIS. He would’ve remained a stabilizing force if the west didn’t aid Islamist efforts to oust him.

Now anybody who isn’t Salafi is subject to be murdered

 

[Scerpi]

Deposing Assad is going to be as bad as Saddam.

People don't understand that the middle east NEEDS the strongman dictator type leadership to keep these fucking cavemen in line. The alternative is always worse.

The videos coming out are awful

 

[Croo67]

The real horror will come when the sleeper cells all across Europe are told to awaken.

ISIS said in 2017 it would infiltrate Europe under the guise of being refugees.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Several dozen members of the security forces have been killed in heavy clashes with militants, a Syrian security official said.
Officials have acknowledged violations during the operation, which they have blamed on unorganized masses of civilians and fighters who sought to support official security forces or commit crimes amid the chaos of the fighting.

A defence ministry source on Saturday told state media that all roads leading to the coast had been blocked to stop violations and help return calm, with security forces deploying in streets of coastal cities.

The source added that an emergency committee set up to monitor violations would refer anyone found not to have obeyed the orders of the military command to a military court.

The reported scale of the violence, which includes reports of an execution-style killing of dozens of Alawite men in one village, puts into further question the Islamist ruling authority's ability to govern in an inclusive manner, which Western and Arab capitals have said is a key concern.

Assad was overthrown last December after decades of dynastic rule by his family marked by severe repression and a devastating civil war.

Syria's interim president, Ahmed Sharaa, while backing the crackdown in a televised address late on Friday, said security forces should not allow anyone to "exaggerate in their response... because what differentiates us from our enemy is our commitment to our values."

"When we give up on our morals, us and our enemy end up on the same side," he said, adding that civilians and captives should not be mistreated.

The defence ministry and internal security agency said on Saturday they were trying to restore calm and order and prevent any violations against civilians in the coastal region.

At least they've acknowledged the massacres and have taken steps to address it. Whether those are actual good faith steps to prevent more reprisals or perfunctory measures taken to placate international observers remains to be seen.

Deposing Assad is going to be as bad as Saddam.

People don't understand that the middle east NEEDS the strongman dictator type leadership to keep these fucking cavemen in line. The alternative is always worse.

Easy to say when you're not the one living under the dictator.

As predicted but even sooner than expected

Neocon/Democrat alliance backed the wrong horse yet again but I bet they have no interest in Syria anymore.

Assad was always better than ISIS. He would’ve remained a stabilizing force if the west didn’t aid Islamist efforts to oust him.

Now anybody who isn’t Salafi is subject to be murdered

Idk how anyone can say Assad was a stabilizing force when the civil war started and worsened under his watch. All this is his fault to begin with.

 

[Croo67]

At least they've acknowledged the massacres and have taken steps to address it. Whether those are actual good faith steps to prevent more reprisals or perfunctory measures taken to placate international observers remains to be seen.

Easy to say when you're not the one living under the dictator.

Idk how anyone can say Assad was a stabilizing force when the civil war started and worsened under his watch. All this is his fault to begin with.

Yeah, I'm sure the ‘former’ ISIS commander is trying really, really hard to stop this.

 

[Crazy Source]

At least they've acknowledged the massacres and have taken steps to address it. Whether those are actual good faith steps to prevent more reprisals or perfunctory measures taken to placate international observers remains to be seen.

Easy to say when you're not the one living under the dictator.

Idk how anyone can say Assad was a stabilizing force when the civil war started and worsened under his watch. All this is his fault to begin with.

"Stabilizing" means keeping it under wraps. Killing, genocide, ethnic cleansing......I read about these things as a kid and was taught everything was worked out.

 

[Crazy Source]

The real horror will come when the sleeper cells all across Europe are told to awaken.

ISIS said in 2017 it would infiltrate Europe under the guise of being refugees.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Yeah, I'm sure the ‘former’ ISIS commander is trying really, really hard to stop this.

Even if he's only taking perfunctory steps that's still leagues different from ISIS who bragged about atrocities or Assad who denied them. The world should be watching closely though, with how unstable the region has been since Oct 7th something relatively small like this can spiral out of control and when that happens civilians are the ones to suffer.

 

[Crazy Source]

Even if he's only taking perfunctory steps that's still leagues different from ISIS who bragged about atrocities or Assad who denied them. The world should be watching closely though, with how unstable the region has been since Oct 7th something relatively small like this can spiral out of control and when that happens civilians are the ones to suffer.

The right thing to do is pull out of NATO and destabilize Europe and let Russia dig in. World Peace!

 

[Kingz]

At least they've acknowledged the massacres and have taken steps to address it. Whether those are actual good faith steps to prevent more reprisals or perfunctory measures taken to placate international observers remains to be seen.

Easy to say when you're not the one living under the dictator.

Idk how anyone can say Assad was a stabilizing force when the civil war started and worsened under his watch. All this is his fault to begin with.

You make it sound like they don’t live under a dictator now.


As for the civil war “worsening” under his watch. That might be because the west funded, armed and militarily backed the insurgency. Giving birth to ISIS and other violent off shoots in the process because they don’t seem to have any interest on who gets their weapons and money, so long as they are anti Assad.

There was always medieval fuckers trying to start war in these countries. I’m sure through the entirety of the Assad’s.

If they are left alone to deal with them then those countries are in the most peaceful position they can realistically be in. Same with Iraq and Libya.

This was never something organic that grew out of Assad’s control on a purely national management level. It was a coordinated years long effort from international alliances to destroy his regime with no regard whatsoever to what would replace it.

What would’ve happened if the west didn’t interfere? Assad would’ve dealt with the Islamists to far less loss of life than what eventually came from empowering the Islamists. Russia probably wouldn’t have to destroy Aleppo. ISIS probably never takes over any region where genocides happened. The 2015 European immigration crisis probably doesn’t happen. On and on.

He was better. That’s it.

The plan isn’t for “democracy”. It’s to make those countries wastelands that lack any leadership and agency in the region much like Libya and Iraq today.

 

[Crazy Source]

You make it sound like they don’t live under a dictator now.


As for the civil war “worsening” under his watch. That might be because the west funded, armed and militarily backed the insurgency. Giving birth to ISIS and other violent off shoots in the process because they don’t seem to have any interest on who gets their weapons and money, so long as they are anti Assad.

There was always medieval fuckers trying to start war in these countries. I’m sure through the entirety of the Assad’s.

If they are left alone to deal with them then those countries are in the most peaceful position they can realistically be in. Same with Iraq and Libya.

This was never something organic that grew out of Assad’s control on a purely national management level. It was a coordinated years long effort from international alliances to destroy his regime with no regard whatsoever to what would replace it.

What would’ve happened if the west didn’t interfere? Assad would’ve dealt with the Islamists to far less loss of life than what eventually came from empowering the Islamists. Russia probably wouldn’t have to destroy Aleppo. ISIS probably never takes over any region where genocides happened. The 2015 European immigration crisis probably doesn’t happen. On and on.

He was better. That’s it.

The plan isn’t for “democracy”. It’s to make those countries wastelands that lack any leadership and agency in the region much like Libya and Iraq today.

Walk me through this. How would you have played it? Your plan is to not integrate the area at all, and keeping a strongman under the U.S.'s control there?

 

[Kingz]

Walk me through this. How would you have played it? Your plan is to not integrate the area at all, and keeping a strongman under the U.S.'s control there?

How I would play it should be easily deducible from my post.

I would never had interfered in Syria and swelled up a civil war/insurgency in the first place. Yes, I would have let Assad deal with it. Mass incarceration and smackdown of rapey and genocidey Islamists be damned.

Especially when I know the other option is more likely than not..Islamist. Which is worse as demonstrated by the falls of Hussein and Gaddafi…and what will be demonstrated in Syria from this day forward.

I would’ve taken the path less likely to have ended up with the grocery list of catastrophes for the ME and the rest of the world(that i listed in the post you quoted) that was a direct result of the path taken.

I don’t care who Assad chose as his allies. I don’t care that democracy isn’t possible in these countries.

And I have zero interest in Middle East integration. Whatever the hell that looks like for people who support these regime change wars.

To whose benefit is this integration? Under what principle or common interest?

I think we all know the answer to that and I have zero interest in that or them.

 

[Crazy Source]

How I would play it should be easily deducible from my post.

I would never had interfered in Syria and swelled up a civil war/insurgency in the first place. Yes, I would have let Assad deal with it. Mass incarceration and smackdown of rapey and genocidey Islamists be damned.

Especially when I know the other option is more likely than not..Islamist. Which is worse as demonstrated by the falls of Hussein and Gaddafi…and what will be demonstrated in Syria from this day forward.

I would’ve taken the path less likely to have ended up with the grocery list of catastrophes for the ME and the rest of the world(that i listed in the post you quoted) that was a direct result of the path taken.

I don’t care who Assad chose as his allies. I don’t care that democracy isn’t possible in these countries.

And I have zero interest in Middle East integration. Whatever the hell that looks like for people who support these regime change wars.

To whose benefit is this integration? Under what principle or common interest?

I think we all know the answer to that and I have zero interest in that or them.

What about other country's interference in Syria?

 

[Islam Imamate]

You make it sound like they don’t live under a dictator now.

He's an interim president who has promised to allow elections after the constitution is drafted. In this region extreme skepticism is warranted but he's nowhere near comparable to Bashar al Assad who inherited the presidency.

As for the civil war “worsening” under his watch. That might be because the west funded, armed and militarily backed the insurgency. Giving birth to ISIS and other violent off shoots in the process because they don’t seem to have any interest on who gets their weapons and money, so long as they are anti Assad.

There was always medieval fuckers trying to start war in these countries. I’m sure through the entirety of the Assad’s.

If they are left alone to deal with them then those countries are in the most peaceful position they can realistically be in. Same with Iraq and Libya.

This was never something organic that grew out of Assad’s control on a purely national management level. It was a coordinated years long effort from international alliances to destroy his regime with no regard whatsoever to what would replace it.

What would’ve happened if the west didn’t interfere? Assad would’ve dealt with the Islamists to far less loss of life than what eventually came from empowering the Islamists. Russia probably wouldn’t have to destroy Aleppo. ISIS probably never takes over any region where genocides happened. The 2015 European immigration crisis probably doesn’t happen. On and on.

The protests and uprisings occurred organically and most of the US' support was for the SDF who are only effective in their little enclave of Syria, not to mention the West also fought against ISIS which helped Assad.

Besides, Assad himself was not some isolationist. His regime occupied Lebanon for almost 30 years before being driven out by the Cedar Revolution.

He was better. That’s it.

The plan isn’t for “democracy”. It’s to make those countries wastelands that lack any leadership and agency in the region much like Libya and Iraq today.

Have you ever talked to a Syrian who lived under Assad? They all hate him as evidenced by Syrians all over the world celebrating his downfall. People will roll the dice on a new regime rather than accept 50 more years of Assad's tyrannical rule. Hilarious that people who endlessly yap about using the 2nd amendment to resist tyrannical governments see Middle Easterners doing it and say "Nooo you have to accept tyranny!"

 

[Islam Imamate]

What about other country's interference in Syria?

Yeah its hilarious to see him say that if only Assad was left alone he would've won when he only had a shot at staying in power because he relied on Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, Iranian officers, and Russian airstrikes.

 

[Corona]

Smh at the lack of legos itt.