Syria: ‘Extremely disturbing’ reports of mass killings

Around 1000 ‘innocent, unarmed’ Syrians including women and children have been slaughtered as the Islamic nation descends into bloodshed following the rebel victory. Warning: Graphic

In accounts horrifically reminiscent of the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival, reports have emerged from Syria of gangs of rebel jihadists raiding homes and killing hundreds of people, with bodies left strewn on the roads.

The Sun reported it had received accounts of naked women paraded in the streets before being shot in brutal executions.

AFP reported families hiding for days only to emerge and be confronted with the sight of piled bodies and mass graves.

The United Nations confirmed it was receiving “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being slaughtered in northwestern Syria.

“The killing of civilians in coastal areas in northwest Syria must cease, immediately,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

The Britain based Observatory said they were killed in “executions” carried out by security personnel or pro-government fighters and were followed by looting.

Members of Syria's new security forces prepare to depart from the northwestern city of Idlib, as reinforcement for the coastal area. Massacres of unarmed civilians have been reported. Picture: AFP

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace after hundreds of civilians were reportedly killed along the country’s Mediterranean coast in the worst violence since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

Clashes between the new security forces and loyalists of the former government erupted in the heartland of the Alawite minority to which Assad belongs, and have since escalated into reported mass killings.

“We must preserve national unity (and) civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country,” al-Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus.

Sources reported that at least 830 Alawite civilians were killed in the coastal Latakia and Tartus provinces.

The interior ministry said that forces were rounding up “the remnants of the toppled regime”.

Rebel jihadists including foreigners are reportedly rounding up and slaughtering hundreds of civilians in Syria, including women and children. Picture: AFP

‘FOREIGNERS AMONG REBEL ATTACKERS’

In Baniyas, a city to the south, resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his nephew were killed by armed groups that entered people’s homes, adding that there were “foreigners among them”.

Though himself an Alawite, Haidar was part of the leftist opposition to the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade under their rule.

The Alawite heartland has been gripped by fear of reprisals for the Assad family’s brutal rule, which included widespread torture and disappearances.

Social media users have shared posts documenting the killing of Alawite friends and relatives.

The Britain based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria, has reported multiple “massacres” in recent days, with women and children among the dead.

The Observatory and activists released footage showing dozens of bodies in civilian clothing piled outside a house, with blood stains nearby and women wailing.

Other videos appeared to show men in military garb shooting people at close range.

Syrian security forces deployed heavily in the Alawite heartland on the country's Mediterranean coast. As many as 1,000 civilians have been slaughtered according to reports. Picture: AFP

CHRISTIANS SLAUGHTERED; ‘BAD OMEN’ FOR NEW REGIME

On Twitter, there was video of Christians being assaulted in the streets by gangs of armed Islamic rebels, paraded in the back of utes and punched and slapped by jihadists with machine guns.

During a sermon on Sunday, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X said Christians were among those killed, and called on Sharaa to “put a stop to these massacres … and give a sense of safety and security to all the people of Syria, regardless of their sects”.

The majority of those killed were “innocent, unarmed civilians” and not “regime remnants”, he said.

Aron Lund of the Century International think tank said the violence was “a bad omen”.

The new government lacks the tools, incentives and local support base to engage with disgruntled Alawites, he said.

“All they have is repressive power, and a lot of that … is made up of jihadist zealots who think Alawites are enemies of God.”

Syria's new government was broadly praised for its "moderate" nature by the neoliberal intelligentsia and the legacy media. Here's a video of them abusing minority Alawites for fun before executing them, also for fun. https://t.co/o8FaLZBCqg

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 7, 2025

‘ROADS FULL OF CORPSES’

For two days, Rihab Kamel and her family hid terrified in their bathroom in the city of Baniyas as armed men stormed the neighbourhood, pursuing members of Syria’s Alawite minority.

The coastal city is part of Syria’s Alawite heartland that has been gripped by the fiercest violence since former president Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

“We turned off the lights and hid. When we were able to flee our neighbourhood of Al-Qusour, we found the roads full of corpses,” Kamel, a 35-year-old mother, told AFP.

A Christian family sheltered them and then helped them reach the frontier with Lebanon, she said, adding that they planned to flee across the border.

“What crime did the children commit? Are they also supporters of the (toppled) regime?” she said.

“We as Alawites are innocent.”

The violence erupted on Thursday after gunmen loyal to Assad attacked Syria’s new security forces.

The ensuing clashes resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides.

In villages and towns on the coast, people spoke of systematic killings.

Assad, himself an Alawite, sought to present himself as protector of Syria’s minorities.

The new authorities have repeatedly promised an inclusive transition that protects the rights of religious minorities.

The Alawite heartland has nonetheless been gripped by a fear of reprisals over the Assad clan’s decades of brutal rule.

A member of the Syrian forces standing guard. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for national unity and peace on March 9, after more than 1,000 people were reportedly killed. Picture: AFP

‘THEY GATHERED ALL THE MEN AND OPENED FIRE’

Baniyas resident Samir Haidar, 67, told AFP two of his brothers and his nephew were killed by “armed groups” that entered people’s homes.

Though an Alawite himself, Haidar belonged to the leftist opposition under the Assads and was imprisoned for more than a decade.

He said he began hearing explosions and gunfire on Friday morning with the arrival of forces deployed to the city, adding that there were “foreigners among them”.

“They entered the building and killed my only neighbour,” he said.

He managed to escape with his wife and two children to a Sunni neighbourhood, but said: “If I had been five minutes late, I would have been killed.”

That same day, armed men entered his brother’s building 100 metres away.

“They gathered all the men on the roof and opened fire on them,” Haidar said.

“My nephew survived because he hid, but my brother was killed along with all the men in the building.” He added that another brother, who was 74, and nephew were killed along with all the men in their building.

“There are houses with four or five dead bodies in them,” Haidar said.

“We have appealed to be able to bury our dead,” he said, adding that he has so far been unable to bury his brothers.

BULLDOZERS, MASS GRAVES

In the port city of Latakia, AFP heard testimonies from residents who said armed groups abducted a number of Alawites who were killed.

Among them was the head of a state-run cultural centre, Yasser Sabbouh, who was kidnapped and whose corpse was dumped outside his home, an AFP reporter said.

In Jableh further south, a resident spoke to AFP in tears, saying they were being terrorised by armed groups who had taken control of the town.

“There are six of us in the house, with my parents and my brothers. There’s been no electricity for four days, no water. We have nothing to eat and we do not dare go out,” he said on condition of anonymity, fearing for his safety.

“More than 50 people from among my family and friends have been killed,” he added.

“They gathered bodies with bulldozers and buried them in mass graves.” Jaafar Ali, a 32-year-old Alawite from the region, fled to neighbouring Lebanon with his brother.

“I don’t think I’m going back soon,” he said. “We are refugees without a homeland. We want countries to open up (channels for) humanitarian migration for Alawites.”

Originally published as Syria: ‘Extremely disturbing’ reports of mass killings