Syria’s worst violence in months claims an estimated 1000 lives

Beirut: An ambush on a Syrian security patrol by gunmen loyal to ousted leader Bashar Assad escalated into clashes that a war monitor estimates have killed more than 1000 people over four days.

The attack on Thursday near the port city of Latakia reopened the wounds of the country’s 13-year civil war and sparked the worst violence Syria has seen since December, when insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad.

Males in the village of Al-Janoudiya during the funeral of four Syrian security force members killed in clashes with Assad loyalists in coastal Syria.Credit: AP

The counteroffensive against the Assad loyalists in the largely Alawite coastal region brought havoc to several cities and towns. Rights groups reported dozens of revenge killings resulting from Sunni militants targeting the minority Islamic sect, regardless of whether they were involved in the insurgency.

The deaths included 745 civilians, 125 members of the Syrian security forces, and 148 fighters loyal to Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

Rami Abdulrahman, the head of the observatory, 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 victims included women and children from the Alawite minority, he said.

The funeral procession for the four security force members in Al-Janoudiya.Credit: AP

The country’s 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 Assad’s government.

Several dozen members of the security forces were killed in heavy clashes with militants, a Syrian security official said.

Officials have acknowledged violations of humanitarian law during the operation, which they have blamed on unorganised masses of civilians and fighters who sought to support official security forces or commit crimes amid the chaos of the fighting.

A Syrian Defence Ministry source told state media on Saturday 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.

A tank in Baniyas being transported by fighters with the new Syrian government.Credit: Getty Images

The source said that an emergency committee set up to monitor violations would refer anyone found not to have obeyed the military orders 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 raised as a key concern.

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

Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-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.

Syrian Facebook on Saturday was filled with images and obituaries of people from the coastal area being mourned by family and friends who said their loved ones 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.”

Syria’s Defence Ministry and Internal Security Agency said on Saturday they were trying to restore calm and order to 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, children and elders, sought refuge at a Russian Mediterranean military base 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 the burning of homes had continued overnight in Baniyas and in surrounding villages.

Reuters could not independently verify the assertions.

Reuters, AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.