'He was still a child': Grief and fear at Latakia hospital

Middle East Eye

15-03-2025

At the National Hospital in Latakia, a coastal city in the heartland of the Alawite minority, the watchful presence of Syria's new authorities is constant.
Visibly shaken, Alawite Syrians arrive to identify the bodies of their loved ones, killed in the recent and deadliest wave of violence in the country since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.
What began as an attack on security forces by Assad loyalists - many from the former president's Alawite sect - quickly spiralled into revenge attacks on civilians, leaving hundreds dead and thousands displaced.
Civilians belonging to the Alawite community were particularly targeted.
Medical staff say security forces, some unidentified, have been posted at the hospital since 6 March, when the violence erupted, and have remained there since.
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Fear on the faces
On the morning of 11 March, the day after the government concluded its military operation, terror-stricken families rushed to hospitals on Syria's western coast to find their loved ones.
At the National Hospital, a man arrived at the morgue to claim the body of his neighbour, one of two brothers who were killed on 7 March.
When asked about the perpetrators, he glanced at an armed man wearing a mask concealing half of his face, closely following the conversation.
Over 800 extrajudicial killings documented in coastal Syria violence Read More »
In a hushed voice, he responded: "Possibly thieves, I really don't know."
Meanwhile, a mother there to identify her murdered son is cut off by her husband: "Don't share any information; it could endanger us."
Another mother, Rim, stood nearby with her neighbour - both there to retrieve her son's body.
The urgency in the mother's eyes was palpable, but she stayed silent. Her neighbour, referring to the deceased as "our son", said that he was killed two days earlier by "armed men".
Another armed security member stood just a metre away. The fear on the faces of the few Alawites present was clear. Seizing a moment of distraction, Rim discreetly shared her phone number.
'He never held a weapon'
Over the phone, Rim, whose name was changed for her protection, spoke fervently, her voice filled with shock as she relayed the details of her story.
Before heading out to spend the evening with friends, her son - a 19-year-old engineering student - asked his mother not to call.
'When they led me there, bodies covered the floor. But I was lucky. My son was in a refrigerator'
- Rim, Alawite civilian
Concerned about the clashes that had erupted on the coast that morning, she called him the next day: "Ahmed?" she asked anxiously.
Instead of her son's voice, she heard a stranger identifying himself as general security.
"Your son was killed. He's here with a bullet in his head. He was a regime loyalist," the man said.
Hoping for a mistake, Rim pleaded: "He hasn't even served in the army. Can you describe his clothes?"
"He's dressed in black trousers and a black jacket," the man replied.
That morning at the morgue, Rim found her son.
"When they led me there, bodies covered the floor. But I was lucky. My son was in a refrigerator," she said.
"My son is tall, fat and bearded, looking older than his age," she added, thinking he might have been mistaken for a "military" for this reason.
"He never held a weapon. He was still a child."
Syrian authorities told Rim she had two days to ask for her son's body.
"I never imagined I'd have to do this," she said. Citing fears of retaliation, she has decided against holding a funeral.
Reassuring minorities
Pressure has been growing on Syria's government, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, to investigate the killing of at least 1,500 civilians, including women, children and entire families.
Syrian Alawis sheltering in Lebanon say it isn't safe to return home Read More »
The Syrian Network for Human Rights said at least 803 extrajudicial killings were committed by all sides involved in the clashes, including forces loyal to Assad, government forces, groups loosely affiliated with the Syrian government and individual gunmen.
The sectarian violence in villages with large Alawite communities has been the biggest challenge to Sharaa since coming to power after the overthrow of Assad in December.
Aron Lund, an analyst at Century International, said the violence has shown the fragility of the new power, supported in part by Islamists "hostile to the Alawis".
The interim president's rhetoric has been aimed at reassuring minorities and advocating appeasement, even if this approach is not "uniformly adopted by all the factions under his command", Lund told Middle East Eye.
At the National Hospital in Latakia, the authorities' discomfort was palpable.
An administrative official repeatedly stated in a mechanical tone: "I am not allowed to give interviews. No statistics will be released until we have official permission."
'The hospital has become their base'
Sitting in a car parked along the deserted coast on a sunny day, a young, terrified doctor spoke of her ordeal since the violence erupted.
Like about 50 other staff members, she did not leave the hospital during the clashes, sleeping in the hospital quarters out of fear for her safety.
A weekend from hell in coastal Syria Read More »
She recounted seeing a patient, who had come to the hospital for a scan, being beaten before her eyes on 7 March, accused of being loyal to Assad.
"They hit him in the chest and face, and I was just a metre away."
The doctor does not know what became of the man.
Since Assad's fall, the atmosphere of inter-community mistrust - fuelled by 14 years of civil war and perpetuated by the Assad family - has reached unprecedented levels.
The doctor criticised the interference of Syrian forces in hospital operations.
"They enter armed and interrogate patients: 'Where are you from? How did you sustain these wounds?'" she said.
Her claims were supported by several colleagues who spoke to MEE.
One doctor in his thirties said: "The hospital has become their base. They come and go armed, and we can't even determine their affiliations."
'How can we feel safe?'
The security forces of the new government now encompass several factions, including the militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which led the offensive that brought down Assad.
"It was worse during Assad's era. The 'shabiha' - regime enforcers - would enter the hospital and do whatever they pleased, showing no regard for the doctors," another doctor remarked.
'Every time I leave my home for the hospital, I see the fear in my mother's eyes that it might be the last time she sees me'
- Doctor, National Hospital
An audio message from a health administrative official in Latakia received on 11 March said: "The situation is back to normal. We are now tracking absences. It's a safe country, God willing." A follow-up message emphasised: "The roads are clear, no more excuses."
The hospital, predominantly staffed by Alawites, saw the appointment of a Sunni vice president by the new authorities, Dr Moataz Fadliye, a month earlier.
Sitting in his office, where the new three-star Syrian flag hung on the wall, he appeared hesitant to discuss recent events, mentioning only "the hundred wounded treated here in the first two days: soldiers, general security and Syrian army members" - without mentioning civilian casualties.
On 9 March, Sharaa announced the creation of an "independent" commission to investigate the recent turmoil in the coastal region, including what led to the outbreak, abuses against civilians and attacks on institutions.
However, this has done little to reassure the Alawite community.
The doctor, speaking from her car, admitted: "I don't trust him."
"Every time I leave my home for the hospital, I see the fear in my mother's eyes that it might be the last time she sees me. How can we feel safe in this country after what happened ?" another doctor said.