Syria operation against Assad loyalists ends after deadly violence

To escape the violent conflict, Alawite families in Syria have fled to neighboring Lebanon. Concurrently, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced the completion of its mission in the western coastal region after several days of military operations, during which hundreds of casualties were inflicted.

A spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that security forces had "cleared" several towns in the Latakia and Tartus provinces of loyalists to former President Bashar al-Assad and were "paving the way for the return to normal life." However, a monitoring organization reported that over 1,500 people had been killed since last Thursday, including 1,068 civilians.

Allegedly, militants loyal to the Sunni Islamist government carried out retaliatory killings against members of Assad's minority Alawite sect following a deadly ambush on a security patrol. Interim President Ahmed Shala has stated that an independent committee will be established to investigate the killings and insisted that the perpetrators will be held accountable.

This violence marks the worst episode in Syria since Shala led a lightning offensive in December that toppled Assad. The rebellion brought an end to a devastating 13-year civil war that left more than 600,000 people dead and 12 million displaced from their homes.

Defense Ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani announced on X that the military operation in Latakia and Tartus had concluded after "achieving all its stated goals." He also stated, "Our forces have cleared the remnants of the former regime's security forces from the town of Mukhtariya, the town of Mazra'a, the Zobar area, and other areas of Latakia province, as well as the towns of Daliya, Tanita, and Qadmous in Tartus province, thereby thwarting threats and ensuring the region's security."

Abdul Ghani further stated that public institutions in the area are now able to resume their work, adding, "We are preparing for the return to normal life and working to strengthen security and stability." He also pledged that security forces would "give the investigation committee full opportunity to uncover the circumstances of these events, verify the facts, and bring justice to the oppressed."

Shala acknowledged in an interview on Monday that there had been "many violations" following the outbreak of violence and pledged to punish all those responsible, including, if necessary, his own allies. "Syria is a state of law. The law will apply to everyone," he told Reuters. "We fought to defend the oppressed, and we will not accept any blood being shed unjustly, or without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us."

The government launched its operation in Latakia province in response to growing insurgent activity by Assad loyalists in recent weeks. The region is an Alawite heartland, and many of the former regime's political and military elite belonged to the sect. Last Thursday, at least 13 officers were reportedly killed when security personnel were ambushed by gunmen in the town of Jableh while attempting to arrest a wanted Assad regime official.

Security forces subsequently dispatched reinforcements to the area and were joined by armed supporters of the government. Over the next four days, they raided numerous Alawite towns and villages, where residents said they carried out retaliatory killings and looting. A widely circulated video showed the bodies of at least two dozen men in civilian clothes piled up in the courtyard of a house in Mukhtariya. Elsewhere, there were reports of militants hunting down Alawites and killing entire families on the spot.

Hiba, an Alawite woman living in Baniyas, told the BBC that "Chechen militants" loyal to the government had attacked her community. "Our neighbors were killed, including children. They came to take everything, gold, everything... They stole all the cars in the neighborhood. They even went to the supermarket and took everything off the shelves." She added: "We have been waiting for our turn. We don't know when it will come. We saw death, we saw people dying in front of us, and now all our friends, our neighbors, are gone. They killed innocent people who had nothing to do with this in cold blood."

An Alawite man with family in Baniyas said in a voice message that a relative of his had been abducted from his home by gunmen from Shala's Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), who were searching for Alawites house to house. "His mother made a mistake when she opened the door. An HTS member shot her between her legs... so she screamed," he said. "Her son... ran to see what happened to her. When they [saw] him, they took him and disappeared. They never came back." He also said that residents of Baniyas' Alawite community were still hiding in their homes on Monday morning because they were too afraid to venture out to see if it was safe.

He said that the bodies of those killed had been buried in a mass grave near a shrine on the outskirts of the town, while those who had been abducted had not returned. The UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that more than 1,540 people had been killed in the Latakia, Tartus, Hama, and Homs provinces. These included 1,068 civilians, the vast majority of whom were Alawites who the group said had died in "killings, field executions, and acts of ethnic cleansing" by security personnel or pro-government militants, as well as 230 security personnel and 250 pro-Assad militants.

Security sources also told Reuters that 300 security personnel had been killed. The BBC was unable to independently verify the death toll. The state news agency, Sana, said that a mass grave containing the bodies of security personnel had been discovered in the former president's hometown of Qardaha on Sunday. Syria TV, a Turkish-based broadcaster, quoted residents as saying that Assad loyalists had buried police officers recently killed in local fighting.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that his office had received "extremely disturbing reports of the killing of entire families, including women, children and other non-combatants." He also added: "There are reports of summary executions carried out on a sectarian basis by actors who are as yet unidentified, by members of the security forces of the caretaker authorities, and by individuals affiliated with the former government." He called on Syria's interim authorities to act swiftly to protect civilians and bring those responsible for killings and other abuses to justice.