Syria's Alawite communities are bracing for reprisals from the country's new de facto authorities, with reports indicating that the new government's soldiers had killed hundreds of people in a sweeping crackdown across northwest Syria that began earlier this week.
Exact casualty statistics cannot be independently verified, and they may grow more as the new Syrian government's forces attempt to exert authority over the country's coastal northwest area.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been monitoring the country's civil conflict since 2011, estimates that more than 1,000 people have been murdered this week, including 745 civilians. According to the observatory, 125 militants supporting the new administration have been killed, as have 148 fighters supporting former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was deposed in December 2024.
There have also been reports of hundreds of people seeking safety at a Russian military facility in Hmeimim, the majority of them are women, children, and elderly. Russia supported Assad throughout the Syrian civil war and has kept a military presence in the country despite his removal.
Officials in the new Syrian government have admitted to breaches committed during operations in northwest Syria, which they blame on disorganized groups of civilians and combatants attempting to back government troops in the conflict or carry out retribution attacks during the turmoil.
On March 7, Syria's interim administration began implementing additional curfews in sections of Latakia and Tartus.
While Assad was deposed in December, various factions continue to compete for control across Syria.
Members of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist movement classified as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States, created Syria's current de facto government in Damascus. HTS was created from al-Nusra, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda.
Across many administrations, the US government has advocated for Assad's removal. Despite continuing to label HTS as a terrorist organization, President Joe Biden's administration indicated a readiness to wait and see where the group that pushed Assad from office would go.
“Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses,” Biden said in a Dec. 8, 2024, address shortly after learning Assad had fled the country. “We’ve taken note of statements by the leaders of these rebel groups in recent days. And they’re saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions.”
In the weeks after Assad’s ouster, the Biden administration retracted a $10 million bounty against HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa and sent an envoy to hold talks with the newly empowered warlord.
Sharaa has since positioned himself as the interim president of Syria, and many HTS leaders have filled other positions in the interim government.
The reported scale of the violence in northwest Syria since March 6, which includes reports of an execution-style killing of dozens of Alawite men in one village, raises further questions about the Islamist ruling authority’s ability to govern over the fractious Syrian factions.
Assad is a member of Syria's Alawite ethnoreligious minority, and many Alawites had backed him in his bid to keep power.
Northwest Syria, encompassing Latakia and Tartus, is still dominated by Alawite populations.
With Assad gone, Alawite militias such as the Coastal Shield Brigade have emerged to protect their towns and repel forces from the new HTS-led government.
The soldiers of the new Syrian interim government said that pro-Assad individuals had attacked many of its security force units, sparking the latest bloodshed this week. Meanwhile, the Alawite Islamic Council blamed the violence on the government, claiming that its soldiers had infiltrated Alawite communities under the guise of tracking down Assad loyalists but were actually there to kill and harass innocent Syrians.
In a statement responding to the recent sectarian violence, Sharaa vowed his forces would continue to pursue pro-Assad elements in the country.
“We will bring them to a fair court,” Sharaa added.
Sharaa also said his government will exercise sole control over weapons in war-torn Syria.
“We will continue to restrict weapons to the state, and no loose weapons will remain in Syria,” he said.
Last month, the HTS-formed interim government similarly called on groups such as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to give up their weapons or risk being excluded from national dialogues to form a new Syrian constitution and shape post-Assad governance.
Representatives of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria and the SDF both indicated they had indeed been excluded from the initial round of national dialogues held by the HTS-formed government in Damascus on Feb. 25.
The recent bout of violence in northwest Syria has prompted concern among neighboring states and in the broader international community.
“While the situation remains fluid and we are still determining the precise facts, there is clearly an immediate need for restraint from all parties, and full respect for the protection of civilians in accordance with international law,” Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, said in a March 7 statement.
Oncu Keceli, a spokesman for Turkey’s Foreign Ministry, expressed his country’s support for the new Syrian leadership and condemned attacks on security forces.
“At this critical juncture, the tension in and around Latakia, as well as the targeting of security forces could undermine the efforts to lead Syria into the future in unity and solidarity,” Keceli said in a statement he shared on social media platform X on March 7.
Saudi Arabia, likewise, condemned “crimes being undertaken by outlaw groups” in Syria and their targeting of security forces.
The Israeli government, by contrast, issued a statement condemning the new Syrian leadership in Damascus and pointing to the recent violence as a sign they cannot be trusted to protect all Syrians.
“The jihadists in Damascus have told the world a story of a ‘new Syria’ that is inclusive toward minorities. In reality, jihadist militias are carrying out relentless massacres against civilians,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a March 7 post on X.
