Syria Monitor Claims Security Forces Execute 52 Alawites After Fierce Clashes

AFP | Damascus
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A Syrian war monitor reported yesterday that security forces “executed” 52 members of the Alawite minority, following violent clashes with gunmen loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

Thursday’s clashes marked the fiercest attack on Syria’s new authorities since Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by rebels in December. Restoring security has been a significant challenge for the new authorities since Assad's ousting, which ended over 13 years of civil war triggered by his crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that security forces “executed” 52 Alawite men in the towns of Al-Shir and Al-Mukhtariya in the Latakia countryside, based on verified video footage and testimonies from relatives of the victims.

The Observatory and activists also released video showing numerous bodies in civilian clothing piled in a yard, with blood stains nearby and women wailing. Another clip showed men in military uniforms ordering three people to crawl on the ground before shooting them at close range.

In response to Thursday's violence, which left at least 72 people dead, Syria’s new authorities launched a large-scale security operation. A curfew was imposed in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the Alawite minority, until Saturday.

Official news agency SANA described the operation as “large-scale,” with reinforcements arriving in the provinces. A security official cited by SANA stated that the operation “targeted remnants of Assad’s militias and their supporters,” urging civilians to stay indoors.

The defence ministry confirmed it had sent reinforcements to the port cities of Latakia and Tartus.

According to the latest figures from the Syrian Observatory, the death toll has risen to at least 124 since Thursday’s clashes. This includes 72 people killed in the fighting: 36 security forces members, 32 gunmen, and four civilians.