Bloody events and ethnic cleansing on Syria’s coast
In recent days, the Syrian coast has witnessed some of the most brutal events in the Syrian conflict. Thousands of civilians, mostly from the Alawite Muslim community, have been killed by armed groups collaborating with the Syrian authorities, with the Syrian authorities unable to prevent the massacres.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the number of documented civilian deaths has exceeded 1,476 so far, while field sources report that the real numbers are much higher.
Several reports indicate that what is taking place in the Syrian coast amounts to systematic ethnic cleansing against Alawite civilians, under the pretext of hunting down remnants of the former regime.
According to testimonies from several areas, including Sunobar Jabla, Rumaila, Mukhtariya, and al-Qusour neighbourhood in Baniyas, civilians were subjected to field executions and raids on their homes by armed factions described as “out of control” that came to support the public security forces. The targeting was not based on political stance or military activity, but affected everyone indiscriminately, including former regime opponents, doctors, engineers, academics, and many working-class people who had no ties to the former regime, reinforcing fears that the massacres were a systematic sectarian cleansing.
Vandalism and destruction
The massacres were not limited to mass killings, but were accompanied by widespread looting and pillaging of property. After the armed men invaded the targeted towns, scenes of shoplifting in the cities of Jableh and Baniyas and their rural areas were widespread, in addition to the confiscation of cars and the burning of many of them. Some testimonies spoke of armed men breaking into homes and forcing residents to hand over their possessions under threat. These operations were not just chaotic, but systematic and aimed at destroying any elements of existence in these areas, and some describe them as bringing what they had built during their lives back to zero or below.
Events leading up to the massacres: A Charged Environment and an Expected Explosion
The escalation in the Syrian coast was not sudden, but rather the result of a long accumulation of tensions and violations that made a violent explosion predictable. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the attacks on checkpoints were not an organised coup, but a reaction from former military personnel who had been excluded and harassed.
Alawite circles witnessed mass dismissals from jobs and widespread arrests of former military personnel, thousands of whom are still detained in the prisons of the Military Operations Directorate. The Observatory also documented more than 500 violations against Alawites prior to the massacres, including population demonstrations calling for Alawites to be driven out of their strongholds or slaughtered, causing tensions to escalate to the point of no return.
In addition, calls for open jihad in mosques in areas that were known for their opposition to the regime have escalated, increasing the state of fear among minorities, in addition to the spread of hate speech through media and social media, clearly calling for “revenge against Alawites”, displacing them from their areas, etc. It became quite normal for anyone in the Syrian coast to be asked:“Are you an Alawite?“, and depending on his answer, he would face a different fate; he might be treated racially, have his property confiscated, or be subjected to physical violations up to and including field executions. The violence was not just a random moment of explosion, but the result of a tense sectarian environment in which identity became a determining factor between life and death.
Syria’s official response: Investigation committee amidst a crisis of confidence
As the death toll rose and images of the massacres circulated on social media, the Syrian authorities acknowledged “violations” but described them as individual cases of revenge. The presidency also announced the formation of an “independent national committee” to investigate the events in the coast, which is due to submit its report to Syria’s transitional president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, within 30 days.
However, this announcement was not enough to quell the outrage, as previous commissions formed in similar incidents did not produce any actual results, leaving many to view the investigation as a mere attempt to contain public opinion.
Despite the state’s promises to protect public security, Hmeimimairport, which is utilised by the Russian base, continues to receive an estimated 8,000 refugees who have fled their areas, amid calls for international or Russian guarantees to protect them.
Crisis of confidence in the government and Jabhat Tahrir al-Sham
The massacres created a deep rift in Syrians’ trust in the government in Damascus, which seemed unable to protect its citizens or even recognise the scale of the disaster. While it tried to make promises to investigate and re-establish security, many saw it as either complicit or unable to enforce its authority in its own areas, adding to the sense of abandonment among those who had relied on the state to protect them.
Jabhat Tahrir al-Sham has been trying to regain the trustof the Syrian interior and the international community by presenting itself as a disciplined force capable of managing the areas it controls. However, recent events have revealed that the armed factions operating under its umbrella are either involved or unable to control the situation, which has diminished the group’s chances of improving its external image.
The exclusion of Alawites and minorities: A threat to civil peace
The massacres have had a profound impact on the social fabric, increasing the sense of isolation and fear among Alawites and other minorities. With the escalation of exclusionary rhetoricand the portrayal of Alawites as a bloc responsible for the regime’s actions, the sense that the community is being targeted existentially, not just politically, has been reinforced.
But after these atrocities, no national reconciliation or rebuilding of trust can be achieved without an end to exclusionary policies. Excluding Alawites and other minorities from state institutions, the army, and the security services will only deepen divisions and increase fear of the future. True stabilisation cannot be achieved by uprooting entire groups from society, but by ensuring their participation in building a state based on citizenship rather than sectarian calculations.
Rebuilding the state: De-radicalisation, not minorities
The biggest challenge facing the Syrian people in the coming phase may be rebuilding an army and state institutions based on national rather than religious or sectarian affiliation, especially extremist ones.
According to activists, eradicating extremists and takfiris from the ranks of the state is the real key to ensuring that such incidents do not recur. A stable Syria cannot be built on religiously politicised security services. It needs neutral institutions that place national affiliation above any sectarian or confessional considerations.
But the biggest question remains: Will Jabhat Tahrir al-Sham live up to its promises to build a nation based on citizenship and justice, or will it follow its fundamentalist Islamist path to build an Islamic state that fulfils the hopes of extremists? The future of Syria depends on this answer, whether the next state will be a civilian model capable of embracing all its components, or it will remain hostage to exclusionary ideology that only breeds more destruction and divisions. The whole world is watching and waiting for the next actions of the Syrian interim authorities.
At the end of the day, if the roots of this crisis are not addressed, the spectre of massacres will remain present,and any state that does not guarantee justice for all its citizens will continue to threaten to explode at any moment.
The images below were collected from sources on the ground and show some aspects of the harm caused by these violations. We apologise for the brutal imagery.
You can read many stories about the massacres that took place and the victims through our website “Eyes on Syria”.
