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Syria’s Alawite Community Faces Renewed Violence Amid Ongoing Conflict
Rihab Kamel and her family spent two harrowing days hidden in their bathroom in Baniyas, a city central to Syria’s Alawite population, as armed groups surged into their neighborhood. This assault was part of a wider wave of violence that has engulfed the region since the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad in December.
“We turned off the lights and stayed silent. Once we navigated through our neighborhood of Al-Qusour, we were confronted with corpses littering the roads,” recounted Kamel, a 35-year-old mother. After being sheltered by a Christian family, they managed to make their way toward the Lebanese border in search of safety.
In a poignant reflection, she questioned, “What crime have the children committed? Are they also seen as supporters of the previous regime? We, as Alawites, are innocent.”
The violence erupted after attacks from pro-Assad gunmen targeted new security forces, resulting in a bloody confrontation that claimed lives on both sides. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, the clashes have led to the deaths of over 745 Alawite civilians in the provinces of Latakia and Tartus.
Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously led the Islamist faction Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that orchestrated the rapid removal of Assad, emphasized the need for “national unity and civil peace” during a recent address at a mosque in Damascus, hoping for a collective future in Syria.
Despite calls for harmony, rising fears of reprisal attacks have taken hold in coastal villages and towns. Samir Haidar, a 67-year-old resident of Baniyas, shared a heartbreaking account of losing two brothers and a nephew to armed groups that invaded homes. Though he identifies as Alawite, Haidar has a history of leftist opposition to the Assad regime, leading to over a decade of imprisonment.
Describing the chaos, he noted the sound of explosions and gunfire as forces descended on the area. “They entered the building and killed my only neighbor,” he said, recalling how he fled with his family just in time to avoid a similar fate.
Tragedy struck soon after at his brother’s building nearby, where armed men executed all the men gathered on the roof. Haidar lamented, “Houses are filled with four or five dead bodies. We’ve begged to be allowed to bury our dead, but have been unable to do so.”
In Latakia, numerous residents reported kidnappings of Alawites, with victims like Yasser Sabbouh, head of a state-run cultural center, found dead outside their homes. Tensions ran high in Jableh, where a resident recounted feeling besieged by armed groups, unable to venture outside due to lack of food and ongoing violence.
“We are trapped inside our house without electricity or water for four days,” the anonymous resident said, expressing despair over the loss of more than 50 family members and friends to the upheaval. “Authorities collected bodies with bulldozers and buried them in mass graves.”
Fleeing the chaos, Jaafar Ali, a 32-year-old Alawite, escaped to Lebanon with his brother, voicing uncertainty about ever returning home. “We feel like refugees without a land to call our own,” he admitted, calling for humanitarian pathways to support those displaced from the Alawite community.
The escalating violence has left deep scars on the Alawite community, highlighting the ongoing struggles for safety and stability amid Syria’s fractured landscape.
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