Fighting in Syria

Reports of “massacres” of civilians

Reinforcements on their way to the embattled coastal areas, where remnants of the toppled Assad regime are fighting fierce battles with the new government troops

(Bild: AFP/SANA)

In the course of the Syrian transitional government's large-scale operation against armed supporters of ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad in the Latakia region on the Mediterranean, more than 1,000 people are said to have been killed. This is according to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There is talk of outright "massacres". Numerous women and children are among the victims. The victims are Alawites. The minority also includes the Assad clan.

Since Thursday, the Alawite-majority region of Latakia has been the scene of fierce fighting between fighters of the new leadership and supporters of Assad, who was toppled three months ago and also belongs to the Alawite minority. On Friday, the new Islamist government in Damascus announced the start of a "large-scale" operation targeting "the remnants of Assad's militias and their supporters". The troops of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa had previously been subjected to fierce attacks. Numerous people were killed when units were lured into an ambush.

Ahmed al-Sharaa spoke of an attack by "remnants of the overthrown regime of Bashar al-Assad".

(Bild: APA/AFP/Aref TAMMAWI)

According to the Observatory, a total of more than 1,000 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in massacres and battles in recent days. The Observatory obtains its information from a network of activists on the ground. There have also been power and water supply failures in Latakia. Bakeries have stopped production and markets are closed, making it increasingly difficult for the population to obtain supplies. The activists' claims often cannot be independently verified. 

Sharaa called on Assad's supporters to surrender on Friday. The Alawite fighters must surrender "before it is too late", he said in a speech on the online service Telegram. "They have turned against all Syrians and made an unforgivable mistake. The backlash has come." Sharaa explained that his government would continue to work to ensure that only state representatives have weapons. There would be no more uncontrolled gun ownership. 

Activists: piles of corpses after offensive
Video footage published by the Syrian Observatory showed dozens of bodies in civilian clothes piled up in front of a house. Pools of blood and weeping women could be seen. Other footage showed men in military uniforms shooting at people at close range. The authenticity of the footage could not be verified. However, the footage from the Russian army base in Hmeimim is genuine.

A resident of the town of Baniyas, Alawite Samir Haidar, reported that "gunmen" had broken into the houses and killed two of his brothers and his niece. The attackers included "foreigners". He himself had only narrowly escaped. Haidar also stated that he had been on the side of the opposition during the Assad government and had been in prison for more than ten years as a result.

"Attack by remnants of the overthrown regime"
The state news agency SANA reported that government troops had prevented an "attack by remnants of the toppled regime" on the national hospital in Latakia. The security forces in the region's cities had been ordered to restore order. Numerous looters had been arrested. Ruler Sharaa did not respond to the reports of possible massacres. However, the former leader of the terrorist militia HTS, who until recently still went by his combat name Abu Mohammed al-Golani, threatened anyone "who commits attacks against civilians" with harsh punishment. 

Syria's neighbors are concerned
Syria's neighboring countries are concerned about the difficult security situation in the region: high-ranking officials from Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Iraq therefore want to meet in the Jordanian capital Amman for regional security talks, according to Turkish diplomatic sources. The talks will also focus on the extremists of the Islamic State. Thousands of their fighters are being held in prisons in north-eastern Syria.