Latest news with #AlawiteSyrians
Straits Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Syrian committee reports 1,426 killed in March violence, says commanders did not order it
FILE PHOTO: Alawite Syrians, who fled the violence in western Syria, walk in Nahr El Kabir River, after the reported mass killings of Alawite minority members, in Akkar, Lebanon March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo BEIRUT - A Syrian fact-finding committee said on Tuesday that 1,426 people had died in March in attacks on security forces and subsequent mass killings of Alawites, but concluded that commanders had not given orders for the revenge attacks. The incidents in the coastal region were the worst violence to hit Syria since the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad last year. The fact-finding committee's work is seen as an important test of the new leadership, made up mainly of former anti-Assad rebel fighters, who are facing new unrest this month involving other minority groups in the southwest. The committee concluded that Syrian commanders did not give orders to commit violations and in fact gave orders to halt them. It came up with a list of 298 suspects involved in violations against Alawites and 265 involved in the initial attack on security forces, committee head Jumaa Al-Anzi said. The names are not being released publicly for now and have been referred to courts for further investigations, spokesperson Yasser Farhan said. He added that 31 people who committed violations against civilians had been arrested, as well as six people he referred to as "remnants" of the former regime. A Reuters investigation last month identified 1,479 Syrian Alawites killed and dozens who were missing from 40 distinct sites of revenge killings, and found a chain of command leading from the attackers directly to men who serve alongside Syria's new leaders in Damascus. Syria's new leadership, which has roots in the insurgency led by Sunni Muslim Islamist groups against Assad, a member of the Alawite minority sect, has long sought to reassure minorities that they will be safe. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 can claim $600 SG60 vouchers from July 22 Singapore Two found dead after fire in Toa Payoh flat Singapore Singaporeans continue to hold world's most powerful passport in latest ranking Singapore Singapore, Vietnam agree to step up defence ties, dialogue among leaders Asia Malaysia govt's reform pledge tested as DAP chief bows over unresolved 2009 death of political aide Singapore Woman evacuated from lift in Supreme Court building after falling glass triggers emergency halt Singapore Prosecution says judge who acquitted duo of bribing ex-LTA official had copied defence arguments Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving Safety of minorities has become a major issue again this month with hundreds of people killed in clashes between government security forces, Sunni Bedouin fighters and militants from the Druze sect in the southern province of Sweida. The authorities have set up a new fact-finding committee in response. 'WIDESPREAD BUT NOT ORGANISED' The violence in March began on March 6 with attacks on Syrian security forces stationed in the region. It put hospitals and other state institutions out of operation and caused wide areas to fall out of government control, Farhan said. The committee found that 238 members of the security forces were killed in these attacks, perpetrated by forces aligned with the former Assad government, Farhan said. In response, around 200,000 armed men mobilized from across Syria, pouring into the coastal region, he said. This led to violations including killings, theft and sectarian incitement that the committee found were "widespread but not organised," Farhan said. Farhan said the committee members had full cooperation from government forces as they undertook their months of work, and it was now up to President Ahmed al-Sharaa whether to release their report in full. Diana Semaan, Syria researcher at Amnesty International, called for the full findings to be released and for perpetrators to face prosecution. "In terms of the fact-finding committee, acknowledging that atrocities against Alawite civilians happened is an important step towards justice," she told Reuters. "[But] without the proper prosecution of perpetrators, then we have impunity. It won't be the justice and accountability that the victims deserve." REUTERS
Shafaq News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Syrian official committee reports over 1,400 killed in March coastal violence
Shafaq News - Damascus On Tuesday, a Syrian investigative committee released its report on the March violence in the coastal region, attributing the delay in publication to concurrent events in the southern city of Suwayda. The committee, formed by the Syrian transitional government, documented 930 testimonies related to the coastal incidents and confirmed the deaths of 1,426 individuals, including civilians and former military personnel. According to the report, 238 members of the public security forces and army were killed by what the committee described as 'remnants of the regime.' The committee also stated that these groups had attempted to seize areas along the coast with the aim of establishing a separatist enclave. The investigation identified 265 individuals as suspected members of these regime-affiliated groups and confirmed that 298 people were found to have committed documented violations. The committee cited testimonies from families of some victims, who said the regime remnants used their areas to launch attacks against security forces. Although the reported violations were widespread, the committee noted they were uncoordinated. It said that 200,000 armed men had moved into the coastal region to reclaim it, and investigations into various abuses and misconduct followed. The report also pointed to cases where individuals impersonated military or security personnel for personal gain. Some of those implicated in violations had formed gangs engaged in looting and theft. The committee clarified that sectarian motives during the events were rooted in revenge rather than ideology, and some fighters had defied military orders by committing violations. Concluding that the state had made significant efforts to halt the abuses and arrest those involved, the committee acknowledged that state control during the events was only partial. The Syrian presidency had established the investigative committee on March 9, pledging to release its findings within a month. The announcement was delayed by an additional three months, with the results now published just ahead of the extended July 10 deadline. Several human rights organizations have reported findings that differ from the official account. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights alleged that public security forces and allied groups carried out massacres and summary executions, resulting in the deaths of around 1,700 civilians, most of whom belonged to the Alawite minority. A previous Reuters investigation revealed details of what it described as massacres committed by Sunni fighters in Alawite-populated areas between March 7 and 9. The report identified a chain of command behind the killings, linking them to individuals operating alongside the new authorities in Damascus. Reuters concluded that approximately 1,500 Alawite Syrians were killed, and dozens remain missing. It documented 40 different locations where retaliatory killings, attacks, and looting targeted Alawite communities.
Straits Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Syrian committee reports 1,426 killed in March violence
Find out what's new on ST website and app. FILE PHOTO: Alawite Syrians, who fled the violence in western Syria, walk in Nahr El Kabir River, after the reported mass killings of Alawite minority members, in Akkar, Lebanon March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo BEIRUT - A Syrian fact-finding committee said on Tuesday that 1,426 people, including 90 women, had been killed during the March 6-9 violence in the country's coastal regions that witnessed attacks on security forces followed by killings of Alawite Syrians. The incidents were the worst violence to hit Syria since the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad last year, and the fact-finding committee's work is seen as an important test of the new leadership, made up mainly of former anti-Assad rebel fighters. In a key finding, the committee concluded that Syrian commanders did not give orders to commit violations and in fact gave orders to halt them. The committee came up with a list of 298 suspects involved in violations against Alawites and 265 involved in the initial attack on security forces, committee head Jumaa Al-Anzi said. The names are not being released publicly for now and have been referred to courts for further investigations, while 31 people have been arrested, spokesperson Yasser Farhan said. The violence began on March 6 with attacks on Syrian security forces stationed in the region that put hospitals and other state institutions out of operation and caused wide areas to fall out of government control, Farhan said. The committee found that 238 members of the security forces were killed in these attacks, perpetrated by forces aligned with the former Assad government, Farhan said. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singaporeans aged 21 to 59 can claim $600 SG60 vouchers from July 22 Singapore Singaporeans continue to hold world's most powerful passport in latest ranking Singapore Woman evacuated from lift in Supreme Court building after falling glass triggers emergency halt Asia Malaysian aide's unresolved 2009 death tests govt's reform pledge despite DAP chief's apology Singapore Prosecution says judge who acquitted duo of bribing ex-LTA official had copied defence arguments Singapore Singapore not affected by haze despite smoke plumes in Sumatra: NEA Singapore Miscalculation of MOH subsidies and grants led to $7m in overpayments, $2m in shortfalls Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving In response to the attacks, around 200,000 armed men mobilized from across Syria, pouring into the coastal region, he said. This led to violations including killings, theft and sectarian incitement that the committee found were "widespread but not organised," Farhan said. Farhan said the committee members had full cooperation from government forces as they undertook their months of work. REUTERS
Straits Times
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
'She's not coming back': Alawite women snatched from streets of Syria
FILE PHOTO: People protest against the killing of civilians, following clashes between forces affiliated to Syria's new government and fighters loyal to former President Bashar al-Assad, at Marjeh Square, in Damascus, Syria, March 9, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo FILE PHOTO: A fighter of the ruling Syrian body stands while holding a weapon, after violence in Tartous province, part of the coastal region that is home to many members of Assad's Alawite sect, after Syria's Bashar al-Assad was ousted, in the city of Tartous, Syria, December 26, 2024. Reuters/Ammar Alzeer/File Photo REUTERS FILE PHOTO: Fighters of the ruling Syrian body keep watch, after dissent surfaced in the city of Homs, north of Damascus, and state media reported that police imposed an overnight curfew on Wednesday night, following unrest linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the Alawite and Shi'ite religious communities, in Homs, Syria December 26, 2024. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises while members of the Syrian forces ride on a vehicle as they battle against a nascent insurgency by fighters from ousted leader Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect, in Latakia, Syria March 7, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri/File Photo FILE PHOTO: Alawite Syrians, who fled the violence in western Syria, walk in the water of the Nahr El Kabir River, after the reported mass killings of Alawite minority members, in Akkar, Lebanon March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo DAMASCUS - "Don't wait for her," the WhatsApp caller told the family of Abeer Suleiman on May 21, hours after she vanished from the streets of the Syrian town of Safita. "She's not coming back." Suleiman's kidnapper and another man who identified himself as an intermediary said in subsequent calls and messages that the 29-year-old woman would be killed or trafficked into slavery unless her relatives paid them a ransom of $15,000. "I am not in Syria," Suleiman herself told her family in a call on May 29 from the same phone number used by her captor, which had an Iraqi country code. "All the accents around me are strange." Reuters reviewed the call, which the family recorded, along with about a dozen calls and messages sent by the abductor and intermediary, who had a Syrian phone number. Suleiman is among at least 33 women and girls from Syria's Alawite sect - aged between 16 and 39 - who have been abducted or gone missing this year in the turmoil following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, according to the families of all them. The overthrow of the widely feared president in December after 14 years of civil war unleashed a furious backlash against the Muslim minority community to which he belongs, with armed factions affiliated to the current government turning on Alawite civilians in their coastal heartlands in March, killing hundreds of people. Since March, social media has seen a steady stream of messages and video clips posted by families of missing Alawite women appealing for information about them, with new cases cropping up almost daily, according to a Reuters review which found no online accounts of women from other sects vanishing. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria told Reuters it is investigating the disappearances and alleged abductions of Alawite women following a spike in reports this year. The commission, set up in 2011 to probe rights violations after the civil war broke out, will report to the U.N. Human Rights Council once the investigations are concluded, a spokesperson said. Suleiman's family borrowed from friends and neighbours to scrape together her $15,000 ransom, which they transferred to three money-transfer accounts in the Turkish city of Izmir on May 27 and 28 in 30 transfers ranging from $300 to $700, a close relative told Reuters, sharing the transaction receipts. Once all money was delivered as instructed, the abductor and intermediary ceased all contact, with their phones turned off, the relative said. Suleiman's family still have no idea what's become of her. Detailed interviews with the families of 16 of the missing women and girls found that seven of them are believed to have been kidnapped, with their relatives receiving demands for ransoms ranging from $1,500 to $100,000. Three of the abductees - including Suleiman - sent their families text or voice messages saying they'd been taken out of the country. There has been no word on the fate of the other nine. Eight of the 16 missing Alawites are under the age of 18, their families said. Reuters reviewed about 20 text messages, calls and videos from the abductees and their alleged captors, as well as receipts of some ransom transfers, though it was unable to verify all parts of the families' accounts or determine who might have targeted the women or their motives. All 33 women disappeared in the governorates of Tartous, Latakia and Hama, which have large Alawite populations. Nearly half have since returned home, though all of the women and their families declined to comment about the circumstances, with most citing security fears. Most of the families interviewed by Reuters said they felt police didn't take their cases seriously when they reported their loved ones missing or abducted, and that authorities failed to investigate thoroughly. The Syrian government didn't respond to a request for comment for this article. Ahmed Mohammed Khair, a media officer for the governor of Tartous, dismissed any suggestion that Alawites were being targeted and said most cases of missing women were down to family disputes or personal reasons rather than abductions, without presenting evidence to support this. "Women are either forced into marrying someone they won't want to marry so they run away or sometimes they want to draw attention by disappearing," he added and warned that "unverified allegations" could create panic and discord and destabilize security. A media officer for Latakia governorate echoed Khair's comments, saying that in many cases, women elope with their lovers and families fabricate abduction stories to avoid the social stigma. The media officer of Hama governorate declined to comment. A member of a fact-finding committee set up by new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to investigate the mass killings of Alawites in coastal areas in March, declined to comment on the cases of missing women. Al-Sharaa denounced the sectarian bloodshed as a threat to his mission to unite the ravaged nation and has promised to punish those responsible, including those affiliated to the government if necessary. GRABBED ON HER WAY TO SCHOOL Syrian rights advocate Yamen Hussein, who has been tracking the disappearances of women this year, said most had taken place in the wake of the March violence. As far as he knew, only Alawites had been targeted and the perpetrators' identities and motives remain unknown, he said. He described a widespread feeling of fear among Alawites, who adhere to an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam and account for about a tenth of Syria's predominantly Sunni population. Some women and girls in Tartous, Latakia and Hama are staying away from school or college because they fear being targeted, Hussein said. "For sure, we have a real issue here where Alawite women are being targeted with abductions," he added. "Targeting women of the defeated party is a humiliation tactic that was used in the past by the Assad regime." Thousands of Alawites have been forced from their homes in Damascus, while many have been dismissed from their jobs and faced harassment at checkpoints from Sunni fighters affiliated to the government. The interviews with families of missing women showed that most of them vanished in broad daylight, while running errands or travelling on public transport. Zeinab Ghadir is among the youngest. The 17-year-old was abducted on her way to school in the Latakia town of al-Hanadi on February 27, according to a family member who said her suspected kidnapper contacted them by text message to warn them not to post images of the girl online. "I don't want to see a single picture or, I swear to God, I will send you her blood," the man said in a text message sent from the girl's phone on the same day she disappeared. The teenage girl made a brief phone call home, saying she didn't know where she had been taken and that she had stomach pain, before the line cut out, her relative said. The family has no idea what has happened to her. Khozama Nayef was snatched on March 18 in rural Hama by a group of five men who drugged her to knock her out for a few hours while they spirited her away, a close relative told Reuters, citing the mother-of-five's own testimony when she was returned. The 35-year-old spent 15 days in captivity while her abductors negotiated with the family who eventually paid $1,500 dollars to secure her release, according to the family member who said when she returned home she had a mental breakdown. Days after Nayef was taken, 29-year-old Doaa Abbas was seized on her doorstep by a group of attackers who dragged her into a car waiting outside and sped off, according to a family member who witnessed the abduction in the Hama town of Salhab. The relative, who didn't see how many men took Abbas or whether they were armed, said he tried to follow on his motorbike but lost sight of the car. Three Alawites reported missing by their families on social media this year, who are not included in the 33 cases identified by Reuters, have since resurfaced and publicly denied they were abducted. One of them, a 16-year-old girl from Latakia, released a video online saying she ran away of her own accord to marry a Sunni man. Her family contradicted her story though, telling Reuters that she had been abducted and forced to marry the man, and that security authorities had ordered her to say she had gone willingly to protect her kidnappers. Reuters was unable to verify either account. A Syrian government spokesperson and Latakian authorities didn't respond to queries about it. The two other Alawites who resurfaced, a 23-year-old woman and a girl of 12, told Arabic TV channels that they had travelled of their own volition to the cities of Aleppo and Damascus, respectively, though the former said she ended up being beaten up by a man in an apartment before escaping. DARK MEMORIES OF ISLAMIC STATE Syria's Alawites dominated the country's political and military elite for decades under the Assad dynasty. Bashar al-Assad's sudden exit in December saw the ascendancy of a new government led by HTS, a Sunni group that emerged from an organization once affiliated to al Qaeda. The new government is striving to integrate dozens of former rebel factions, including some foreign fighters, into its security forces to fill a vacuum left after the collapse of Assad's defence apparatus. Several of the families of missing women said they and many others in their community dreaded a nightmare scenario where Alawites suffered similar fates to those inflicted on the Yazidi religious minority by Islamic State about a decade ago. IS, a jihadist Sunni group, forced thousands of Yazidi women into sexual slavery during a reign of terror that saw its commanders claim a caliphate encompassing large parts of Iraq and Syria, according to the U.N. A host of dire scenarios are torturing the minds of the family of Nagham Shadi, an Alawite woman who vanished this month, her father told Reuters. The 23-year-old left their house in the village of al Bayadiyah in Hama on June 2 to buy milk and never came back, Shadi Aisha said, describing an agonising wait for any word about the fate of his daughter. Aisha said his family had been forced from their previous home in a nearby village on March 7 during the anti-Alawite violence. "What do we do? We leave it to God." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Middle East Eye
15-03-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
'He was still a child': Grief and fear at Latakia hospital
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. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 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.
