Egypt Daily News – Armed men loyal to the Syrian Interim Government carried out field executions and spoke of “purging” the country, according to eyewitnesses and video footage, providing a horrific picture of a crackdown against what is known as the “remnants of Assad’s regime,” which turned into mass killings.
Syria has witnessed the worst wave of violence since the ousting of former President Bashar al-Assad late last year, after armed men appeared on the Syrian coast (a region with a significant Alawite presence) on Thursday. Meanwhile, Syrian authorities stated that the campaign was an attempt to suppress a rebellion by remnants of the former regime.
An independent UK-based monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), reported that at least 642 people have died in the violence, including dozens of civilians who were killed after government forces carried out “widespread field executions” of young men and adults.
The transitional Syrian president, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, stated on Sunday that his government “will hold accountable anyone involved in killing civilians,” describing the events in a previous speech as “expected challenges.”
“They Declared Jihad”
A resident of Latakia said: “Armed men moved from house to house, attacking people as if for amusement… They declared jihad against us from all over Syria.”
The same resident, who fled the city on Saturday after living there for 30 years, said that people began seeing bodies in the streets.
“People were fleeing, and those who couldn’t escape were killed,” he said. Another resident of Latakia, named Bashir, said: “My 70-year-old uncle, a history professor, and his 60-year-old wife were coldly executed.” Both were Alawites and lived in Baniyas, west of Tartous province.
Bashir added: “I fear for my life and my two children’s lives,” he said.
Armed men moved en masse toward Latakia and Tartous on Thursday night following reports of attacks by Assad loyalists against the new Syrian government forces stationed in Alawite cities.
Rasha Sadiq, a 35-year-old mother of three from the Alawite sect living in Homs, said she received a phone call over the weekend from her brother’s business partner informing her that her mother and two of her brothers had been killed by armed groups loyal to the new government in Baniyas.
“I was in constant contact with my family, and they told me they heard gunfire,” Rasha said, adding that her family heard religious chants. She emphasized that her family was civilian and not pro-Assad.
The Assad family, belonging to the Alawite sect, ruled Syria for more than half a century until Bashar was ousted in December by Sunni Islamist militants seeking to reshape the country’s political and sectarian system. This group, led by former al-Qaeda fighter Ahmed Al-Sharaa, promised political equality and representation for all Syrian communities regardless of ethnicity, religion, or sect.
The Syrian authorities have opened reconciliation channels for remaining former regime members to surrender their weapons, and many Alawites have done so, though some have refused.
The attacks began this week following reports that Assad loyalists ambushed and killed members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that led the uprising that toppled the former Syrian leader.
Bashir told CNN: “Assad’s remnants wouldn’t be in the villages they attacked. These (armed men) were killing ordinary people in these villages.”
A Syrian government source told state media that “individual violations” occurred after “large, unorganized crowds” traveled to the area.
The Syrian government said on Saturday that at least 150 of its security forces had been killed since Thursday, and 300 had been captured in clashes with Assad loyalists.
“A Battle for Purification”
Several videos on social media showed convoys of armed men in vehicles heading to Latakia and Tartous in the lead-up to the violence.
In one video, a man accompanying the forces said: “This is a battle of liberation. Now, this is a battle to purify (Syria).” It was unclear when the footage was recorded.
A man in military uniform, speaking with an Egyptian accent, appeared in another nighttime video, saying: “To the Alawites, we have come to slaughter you and your fathers.”
The same man continued: “Everyone has taken up arms. We will show you (the power of) the Sunnis.”
Reports of horrific violence soon emerged. Video footage showed dozens of bodies on the ground in the village of Al-Mukhtariyah as people wept.
In another video, a voice was heard saying before firing at a motionless body on open ground: “These Alawite pigs.” It was unclear where or when the shooting occurred.
Another widely circulated video on Syrian social media showed a man in military uniform approaching a house on a motorcycle, asking its occupant to look at the camera before shooting him.
Laughing, the gunman in the video said: “Got you… Are you still alive? Not dead yet?” before shooting him again.
In another video, a man in military uniform ordered a captive to come out of a building and bark like a dog before executing him.
These attacks raise major questions about the new Syrian administration, which has made efforts to distance itself from its jihadist past. Bashir said: “What has happened in the last three months equals what Assad did to us in five decades. The Assads were criminals, and these (new rulers) are criminals too.”
